More problems for Chiqui Tapia: Justice is investigating an alleged diversion of US$50 million linked to the AFA

The Argentine Football Association (AFA), chaired by the disgraceful Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, won't stop adding controversies. Federal Justice placed under investigation an alleged diversion of at least 50 million dollars linked to funds caused by the international activity of the Argentina National Team.

The case file, overseen by the federal judge of Lomas de Zamora, Luis Armella, with the involvement of prosecutor Cecilia Incardona, seeks to determine whether part of the income obtained abroad never reached its regulatory destination: the strengthening of local clubs.

According to the case, the money under suspicion was transferred through five companies based outside the country that reportedly wouldn't record clear economic activity to justify the detected movements. The companies identified are Velpasalt Global LLC (4.7 million), Marmasch LLC (13.4 million), Soagu Services LLC (10.8 million), Dicetel (4.8 million) and Velp LLC (3 million).

At the center of the investigation is TourProdEnter LLC, a company linked to businessman Javier Faroni, which allegedly managed and collected AFA's international funds for a total close to 260 million dollars. Those revenues would come from contracts for friendly matches of the National Team, commercial agreements with Adidas and rights associated with the platform AFA Play. The prosecutor's office is trying to establish what percentage of that amount was effectively transferred to the association and what portion allegedly remained along the way.

As part of the evidentiary measures, Armella ordered Banco Coinag to provide a detailed report on checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits and historical statements linked to the companies mentioned. The bank clarified that "it isn't part of the case" and assured that its operations comply with Central Bank regulations and with the anti-money laundering law, while describing the judicial request as "normal".

However, the case file states that an accounting certification submitted for the purchase of vehicles turned out to be false. According to what was established in court, the document hadn't been issued by the bank and was wrongly attributed to a professional, which could lead to new charges in the future.

The investigation also moved forward on the domestic front. The judge ordered a comprehensive expert analysis of Banfield's assets and of a trust linked to the club, with the aim of determining whether part of the funds that allegedly left the country could have reentered it to finance internal structures or specific expenses.

The prosecutor's office keeps that "reconstructing this circuit is vital to understanding whether there was fraudulent management of resources that belong to Argentine football". The criminal charge under analysis is fraudulent administration, contemplated in article 173, subsection 7 of the Criminal Code, although the case could be expanded to include forgery of private documents and money laundering if the use of false documentation is confirmed.

With international letters rogatory in preparation and new expert reports underway, the case file is moving forward on a complex financial scheme that, if proven, could have a strong institutional impact on Argentine football.