A federal judge on Friday dismissed the criminal case over the $LIBRA cryptocurrency token against President Milei and his sister Karina Milei, the presidency’s secretary general, ruling that the facts under investigation did not amount to a crime.
Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi’s order also covers nine other suspects, among them the lobbyist Mauricio Novelli and the US businessman Hayden Mark Davis. None of the 11 was called to give a statement as a suspect, and eight named defense lawyers. The order says the investigation does not affect their good name and honor.
The judge based the ruling on article 336 of the federal criminal procedure code, which allows a dismissal when the reported conduct does not fit any offense. He accepted the request of prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, who had asked for all the suspects to be cleared, after checking that the prosecutor’s reasoning held up. Because no party was pressing its own accusation, he wrote, the decision followed what the prosecutor asked for.
The token’s price shot up after Milei posted a message promoting it on X that evening, then crashed hours later. According to the ruling’s account of the complaints, a few digital wallets cashed out about US$100 million and more than 40,000 buyers lost value.
The complaints came from opposition deputies Mónica Frade and Maximiliano Ferraro, among others. The judge removed groups of investors who had joined the case as private accusers in July, and in September he rejected Frade and Ferraro in that role, saying being a lawmaker was not enough.
The order can be appealed. The judge ordered the case archived once it becomes final.
