The justice system is assessing whether the entity had funds available to meet its tax and social security obligations
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Criminal Economic Justice is deepening the investigation against the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and its unacceptable president, Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, in a case involving alleged improper withholding and failure to pay taxes and social security contributions. In that context, the focus is on the bank accounts and time deposits that the entity maintained at Credicoop bank, where deposits of up to 8 billion pesos and placements in dollars were detected.
The case file is in the hands of JudgeDiego Amarante and Prosecutor Claudio Navas Rial, who charged Tapia, Treasurer Pablo Toviggino, Secretary General Cristian Malaspina, and General Director Gustavo Lorenzo. The investigation originated from two complaints filed in December by the Revenue Collection and Customs Control Agency (ARCA), which accuses AFA of having failed to make payments of around 19 billion pesos corresponding to VAT, Income Tax, and social security contributions during 2024 and 2025.
AFA habría retenido IVA, Impuesto a las Ganancias y aportes previsionales
Judicial sources described the volume of evidence submitted as a "pile of documentation". A large part of the information was provided by ARCA, together with data requested from public agencies and private entities. Among the most relevant measures, the judge ordered Credicoop bank, where AFA concentrated most of its accounts, to report the complete details of financial movements, including holders, balances, and transactions.
According to those proceedings, the entity had high-volume operating accounts and time deposits in foreign currency, all with strong activity. For the investigators, the core of the case doesn't lie in the final destination of the funds, but in determining whether AFA had sufficient liquidity at the time of meeting its tax and social security obligations and, even so, decided not to comply with the payments.
In parallel, Credicoop also came under scrutiny in another case. Federal Judge of Lomas de Zamora, Luis Armella, requested information on all of AFA's accounts since 2021, in the context of an investigation into foreign movements linked to the contract with the company TourProdEnter LLC, owned by Javier Faroni. In that case file, the court requested identification of account holders, authorized signatories, bank identification codes, and a detailed list of each transaction carried out.
La defensa de Tapia pidió el sobreseimiento
Tapia's defense, led by attorneys Norberto Frontini and Lucio Simonetti, requested dismissal and closure of the case. They argued that ARCA and Ministry of Economy resolutions suspended tax enforcement actions for non-profit entities and that, in that context, there was no enforceable payment obligation and no crime.
However, in response to an inquiry from Prosecutor Navas Rial, ARCA stated that those resolutions did not suspend the due dates of the debts, but only the enforcement actions. With that response added to the case file, Judge Amarante is now in a position to rule on the request for dismissal, while the procedural status of AFA's leadership remains under review.
