Argentina's Milei Faces Fraud Charges, Impeachment Calls After Failed Memecoin Launch

• Opposition lawmakers in Argentina are pushing for President Milei's impeachment following a scandal involving a memecoin, which purportedly brought embarrassment to the country on the international stage.
• Several lawyers, including a former head of the Central Bank, are pursuing legal action against President Milei, alleging fraud and price manipulation.
• Milei is embroiled in controversy for promoting LIBRA, a Solana-based token, whose value dropped 95% from $4.5 billion to $200 million over the weekend. Insiders reportedly cashed out $87.4 million in tokens during the incident, as per Kobeissi Letter and Bubblemaps.

• During the crash, Milei deleted his post and withdrew his endorsement, denying any connection to the project. He has denied having prior knowledge of the token and maintains his innocence in the scandal. His administration announced yesterday that it would open its own investigation into the token project.

• "Given the facts, President Javier Milei has decided to immediately involve the Anti-Corruption Office (OA) to determine whether there was improper conduct on the part of any member of the National Government, including the President himself," reads a translation of the announcement. 
• Argentina’s fintech chamber suggested that the incident might be a 'rug pull.' In such cases, the token's developers attract genuine investments to inflate the value, only to later sell off their holdings abruptly.

"This scandal, which embarrasses us on an international scale, requires us to launch an impeachment request against the president," added Leandro Santoro, a member of the opposition coalition.

• "Within this illicit association, the crime of fraud was committed, in which the president’s actions were essential," plaintiff Jonatan Baldiviezo told the Associated Press.

Reuters Article / Archive
AP Article / Archive
Al Jazeera Article / Archive

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