- Mauricio Novelli and Javier Milei have had a financial relationship since 2021.
- Libra wasn’t the first crypto scheme that Novelli and Milei found themselves entangled in.
- Argentine forensic analysts have found some incriminating evidence of Milei’s involvement in the Libra scandal.
New forensic evidence from Argentina shows that President Javier Milei has received monthly dollar payments from Libra-linked lobbyist Mauricio Novelli for years before the memecoin scandal happened.
In fact, analysts have discovered that the payments even doubled after Milei became president.
Libra was a cryptocurrency promoted by Milei in February 2025, that claimed to support small and medium sized businesses in the country. Traders bought the token in droves, causing it to spike, only for insiders to sell and cause the token to plummet within hours. The creators made away with millions in profits.
Computer forensics recovered from Novelli’s phones show he began paying Milei in 2021 for teaching cryptocurrency courses and promoting his investment firm, according to reporting from Argentine media outlet La Nación based on official court filings.
The payments started at $2,000 per month while Milei served as a national deputy. By April 2024, four months after Milei became president, the amount had jumped to $4,000 — paid to his sister and chief of staff, Karina Milei.
These revelations add another layer of shade for Javier Milei, who finds himself embroiled in a scandal that began in February 2025 when he promoted a memecoin dubbed Libra that collapsed shortly after launch.
Last Friday, forensic evidence linked messages by Javier Milei to the memecoin’s promoters minutes before and after the launch, reigniting the case.
The incident triggered congressional investigations and criminal probes into whether the Argentine president knowingly participated in a crypto scam.
Milei has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
The first scandal
Novelli began paying Milei in late 2021 to teach Zoom classes on financial education and cryptocurrencies for his company N&W Professional Traders, according to messages recovered by Argentina’s Directorate of Technological Support for Criminal Investigation.
By August 2022, Novelli was offering crypto trading courses “plus Milei’s class” as a key selling point.
Notably, forensic evidence shows that Milei also promoted Vulcano Game, a token launched by Novelli in late 2021. On February 18, 2022, Milei posted on social media that the project was “very interesting” and showed a “sustainable economic diagram over time, unlike the vast majority.”
Vulcano Game collapsed shortly after amid allegations of fraud.
Monthly payments established
By mid-2023, as Milei campaigned for president, he and Novelli formalised a payment arrangement.
On June 22, 2023, Novelli told his secretary — saved in his phone as Ara Bosque — to set aside $2,000 “for Milei’s secretary,” according to recovered audio files.
To finance those payments, Novelli sold USDT for cash. On July 5, 2023, he asked Ara to bring “that stack” of bills for Milei, reported La Nación.
On August 1, 2023 — twelve days before Argentina’s primary elections — Novelli messaged his secretary: “We have to pay Milei’s $2,000 as always.”
Later, two days before the primary vote, Ara confirmed: “The dollar payment to Milei has already been made?”
“Yes!” Novelli replied.
After the presidency
In November 2023, Javier Milei won the presidency of Argentina.
Two days later, Novelli posted an Instagram video of the president-elect promoting N&W Professional Traders courses as “one of the most important academies in Latin America.”
As president, Milei continued to receive payments from Novelli — which apparently doubled.
On April 2, 2024, four months into Milei’s presidency, Novelli told his secretary in a recovered audio message to gather “$4,000 for Karina” — referring to Karina Milei, the president’s sister and chief of staff.
Monetising the presidency
By September 2024, Novelli was leveraging his presidential access for business.
On September 20, 2024, Novelli met with Milei at the Casa Rosada and took a selfie, which he sent to his team.
“Awesome,” they replied.
Novelli used the meeting to promote the Tech Forum, a Buenos Aires-based event he was organising with his business partner Manuel Terrones Godoy.
Milei spoke at the Tech Forum conference in October 2024, where he met Julian Peh, CEO of KIP Protocol, who would later also become entangled in the Libra scandal.
Milei also met with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who later accused Novelli and Terrones Godoy of demanding money in exchange for access to the president.
Thirteen months after the Libra collapse that triggered criminal investigations, Milei still appears in N&W Professional Traders’ course curriculum alongside Novelli as part of the N&W instructor team.
The forensic evidence paints a picture of a years-long financial relationship between Argentina’s president and the lobbyist at the center of a memecoin scandal that left thousands of investors with losses.
Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.