Milei LIBRA case dismissed as judge finds no criminal fraud

The Milei LIBRA case is over, at least for now. Federal Judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi has dismissed the criminal investigation into Argentine President Javier Milei, his sister and chief of staff Karina Milei and nine other defendants over the LIBRA memecoin, which collapsed in February 2025 with investor losses estimated at about $100 million, the Buenos Aires Times reported.

What happened

"The reported events do not constitute a criminal offence," the judge wrote, according to the Buenos Aires Times. He accepted a request from prosecutor Eduardo Taiano to drop the case and ordered it archived once the decision becomes final. The BBC reported that the judge found no "criminally relevant deception" had been proven.

The case began with a post. On Feb. 14, 2025, Milei wrote on X that "the world wants to invest in Argentina" and linked to the token. Its price soared, then crashed within hours, and he deleted the message. He later said he had not known the project's details, that he "merely shared it" and that buyers had invested voluntarily, the BBC said.

The ruling also cleared Karina Milei, who had faced claims that she was paid to set up meetings between the token's backers and the president. "Facilitating a contact or helping to organise a meeting does not, in itself, amount to influence peddling," the judge wrote. U.S. entrepreneur Hayden Mark Davis, linked to the launch, businessman Mauricio Novelli, former securities regulator adviser Sergio Morales and Julian Peh were among those cleared.

Why it matters

The judge held that the token's rise and fall and the losses it caused were not, by themselves, evidence of fraud without deception that met the criminal threshold. He also rejected abuse-of-office claims, finding that the post was not backed by administrative acts or state resources.

Milei responded with a string of social media posts, including the line "Truth triumphs on its own; lies always need complicity," and demanded compensation for "a year, eight months and nine days of lies, slander and libel." For crypto markets, the Milei LIBRA case had become a test of whether politicians who promote tokens can be held liable when they crash. The answer from Buenos Aires, for now, is that promotion alone is not a crime, even as Washington steps up its crackdown on crypto scams.

The outcome contrasts with other high-profile token cases, such as the arrest of Richard Heart in Istanbul, where prosecutors pursued the founder directly.

What's next

The dismissal stands unless it is successfully challenged on appeal. None of the defendants had been called to testify as suspects. In the U.S., a New York court threw out a class action against LIBRA's backers in September, citing deficiencies in the filing, a separate proceeding from the Argentine probe.

The affair once prompted opposition lawmakers to prepare an impeachment push, so the political fallout may outlast the court case. The judge's reasoning is set out in the Buenos Aires Times report on how the Milei LIBRA case was closed.