$LIBRA Case: Justice Delays Key Decision That Could Determine the Closure of the Investigation

The Chamber of Cassation postponed for the "coming weeks" a decision on whether to evaluate or dismiss the request of a group of victims from the collapse of the cryptocurrency $LIBRA who seek to rejoin as complainants in the case, a role that allows them to propose evidence and challenge judicial resolutions. This is a decision of great significance for the file, as the victims are the only ones pushing to keep an investigation open that, after the dismissals of Javier Milei --- who promoted the cryptocurrency on his social media on February 14, 2025 --- and the rest of the accused, is heading towards its definitive closure. The victims' request to re-enter the case as accusers has been in the hands of Cassation since mid-last month, but it gained decisive relevance on Friday after Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi issued the dismissals. If Cassation were to dismiss the appeal, the case would be left without accusers, since it was Prosecutor Eduardo Taiano who requested the dismissals. The resolution was expected this week, but judicial sources indicated that the court agreed that the matter did not involve the urgency claimed by the victims and decided to postpone it for at least two more weeks. The matter is in the hands of Chamber II of Cassation, composed of judges Alejandro Slokar, Guillermo Yacobucci, and Ángela Ledesma. According to LA NACION's reconstruction, there is a disagreement among the judges that predates last Friday's resolution by Judge Martínez de Giorgi. A biographical detail of the court adds another element to the judicial landscape. Judge Ledesma will turn 74 in December. From then on, if she wishes to remain in office beyond the age of 75, she will have 12 months to request a new appointment from the Government. The Executive Power may decide whether to propose her continuity for Senate approval, as happened with Judge Carlos "Coco" Mahiques.

The Decision

What Chamber II of Cassation must resolve is whether to admit or dismiss the appeals presented by the victims to evaluate their claim. This is a preliminary step to the substantive discussion: whether or not to reinstate them in the investigation. Their removal from the case, ordered by Martínez de Giorgi, took place before the dismissals requested by Prosecutor Taiano were issued last Friday. The victims could not then challenge that decision from the role of complainants. They did so nonetheless, between Monday and Tuesday of this week, as would-be complainants, arguing that they were in a position to do so because the decision to remove them had not yet become final. One of them, Martín Romeo, highlighted in his writing that the first decision to accept him as a complainant was confirmed by Cassation, while the second, which was to remove him, was not. Both groups of victims directed harsh criticisms against Prosecutor Taiano, whom they accuse of acting as a lawyer for the accused, and against the judge, whom they accuse of making a "fragmentary" assessment of the evidence. Among them, they point out, there are meetings and million-dollar transfers and phone communications that were not related. By removing the complainants in July of this year, the judge accepted a request from one of the investigated, trader Mauricio Novelli, who is said to have been one of the facilitators between Milei and Davis for the launch of the currency. In their writings, the victims indicated that Novelli's relationship with Milei dated back long before the launch of the currency, that the trader intervened in the President's meeting with Hayden Davis at the Casa Rosada on January 30, 2025, and that both maintained numerous communications on the day of the launch of $LIBRA. If Cassation admits their appeals, the victims will not automatically regain their status as complainants. The court will then have to examine the substance of the request and determine whether to revoke the decision that removed them from the case or, on the contrary, confirm it and leave the file as it is, heading towards its definitive closure. Should they be admitted and finally reinstated as complainants, the victims could push their appeals against the dismissals, but they would still have an uphill battle.

A Reconfigured Chamber

The review would be in the hands of the Federal Chamber that the Government reconfigured with the departure of Leopoldo Bruglia and the revalidation of Pablo Bertuzzi. Upon confirming the removal of the complainants in September, that same Chamber stated that the case had "weakened" and the initial hypothesis ended up "diluted".