Manuel Adorni, President Milei's former chief of cabinet, has told a federal court that US$591,544 in bitcoin profits earned before he entered government accounts for the assets at the center of an illicit-enrichment investigation, and prosecutors are now moving to test that claim.
In a 78-page filing submitted to Judge Ariel Lijo on September 21, Adorni's lawyer Matías Ledesma said the former official held eight cryptocurrency wallets between 2014 and 2018 and liquidated them before taking public office. Part of the proceeds, the filing said, was kept in cash at the family home, outside the banking system, according to Infobae and Río Negro. "It is, consequently, an asset that predates the exercise of public office," the filing states. The defense handed over the wallets' private keys in a notarized document.
Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita had identified about 43 million pesos (US$28,000) and more than US$400,000 that Adorni had not accounted for. The inquiry covers a house in the Indio Cuá gated community, an apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito, renovation spending and travel.
The filing disputes testimony from contractor Matías Tabar, who told investigators the Indio Cuá renovation cost about US$245,000; Adorni puts the figure at about US$175,000, paid from savings and bank accounts. According to Ámbito, the defense says Adorni put roughly US$200,000 into bitcoin between 2014 and 2017 through cash purchases from sellers he did not know, and argues that "possession of the private key alone constitutes ownership of the wallet."
Pollicita has brought in specialists from the prosecution service's economic and financial advisory unit to establish whether Adorni actually controlled the wallets when the transactions took place and to reconstruct where the money went, Ámbito reported. According to La Nueva, the requests, which also cover documents on the renovation, are due to be filed on Monday and need Lijo's approval. The aim is "to determine whether the movements presented by the defense match the dates, amounts and digital addresses listed in the filing," the paper reported.
Adorni resigned as chief of cabinet at the end of June and was replaced by Diego Santilli, according to El Cronista and La Nación. He had previously served as Milei's presidential spokesman.
Pollicita has not asked for Adorni to be summoned for formal questioning. That decision now depends on whether the blockchain record and the renovation invoices line up with the account in the filing.