Argentina federal judiciary has issued a sweeping asset freeze against US promoter Hayden Davis and two local intermediaries. This is the most recent and aggressive act in the 250 million dollar Libra fraud case that has moved to both the Buenos Aires and New York courts. The case is investigating one of the biggest crypto scandals in Latin America.
The order issued by the court, which is technically a prohibition of innovation, is directed at the movable and immovable property and financial resources of Davis. Argentine Orlando Rodolfo Mellino and Colombian Favio Camilo Rodriguez Blanco are also covered by the order. These persons are suspected to be agents of obscuring money trail.
$507,500 Transfer Under Strict Scrutiny.
In February 2025, the entry of Argentina into the world of cryptocurrency made a sharp turn. President Javier Milei gave a tweet in favor of LIBRA, a Solana meme coin. The LIBRA plunged almost 90 percent within hours generating fraud claims and impeachment demands against Milei. This crash in the first instance revealed the fragility of investors.
A questionable transfer is a particular area that the investigation of the prosecution has heated up. Law enforcers discovered that Davis had moved over 507,500 through the crypto trading platform Bitget. Most importantly, it happened only 42 minutes following the post of a selfie by President Milei with Davis. The tweet was a marketing effort to make Davis an advisor on blockchain and AI.
The prosecution is in the process of examining documents that indicate that such exact transfer can be considered eventual indirect payments to the public officials. Mellino and Blanco were supposedly the ramps to exit the funds. This was a complicated move that would complicate the process of tracking the real, dark beneficiaries of the money.
Asset Freeze Tends to Defend hundreds of Victims.
The freeze order was issued by the federal judge Marshal Giorgi after the financial investigation departments issued another technical report. The report gave important evidence of a suspicious activity. The judge granted the action to ensure that the suspects would not transfer or dispose their property. This has to be done until the investigation is over.
Officials believe that the LIBRA initiative could have swindled hundreds of shareholders. The amount of money that is lost by the total investors is estimated to be 100 million to 120 million dollars. In addition, the order has freeze effects on other assets and related platforms and crypto operators throughout Argentina. This extends the area of the local crackdown significantly.
Some of the organisations that took part in the launch of the coin included Kelsier Ventures, which was headed by Davis, and KIP Protocol. The freeze order on Davis who was the supposed mastermind in the plot has rekindled the political debate over the promotion of the token by President Milei even though it was temporary. The investigation of criminal court goes on regardless of administrative investigations.