On the campaign trail in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s President Javier Milei was pelted with stones, plants and bottles on Wednesday by protesters in the town of Lomas de Zamora, traditionally a Peronist opposition stronghold.
Milei has become embroiled in a corruption scandal since a series of audio recordings were released by the press, which seem to implicate Milei and his sister Karina – who serves as secretary general of the presidency – in an embezzlement scheme.
In the recordings, the former director of Argentina’s National Disability Agency (Andis), Diego Spagnuolo, discusses alleged bribes paid by a pharmaceutical company to members of the president’s administration. Spagnuolo went on to serve as a member of President Milei's legal team.
Karina Milei, nicknamed “the boss” by her brother, is suspected of syphoning off 3 percent of a sum paid by Andis to purchase medicines from a private healthcare group.
The president has denied all wrongdoing. Shortly before arriving in Lomas de Zamora on Wednesday, Milei told reporters: “Everything [Spagnuolo] says is a lie … We are going to bring him to justice and prove he lied.”
But the press revelations have prompted the public prosecutor's office to open an investigation into the allegations.
Read moreArgentina's Milei pelted with stones while campaigning amid corruption scandal
Allegations of kickbacks
The Argentine press released a series of audio recordings on August 20 featuring a voice believed to be Spagnuolo implicating Eduardo “Lule” Menem, Karina Milei’s undersecretary in her role as secretary general to the president.
Menem is believed to be the lynchpin of the corruption case. He is also the cousin of the current president of the Chamber of Deputies, Martín Menem.
In the recordings, Karina Milei is named as the potential recipient of 3 percent of the sum the state spent to buy medicines for people living with various chronic conditions from Suizo Argentina, a private company.
The voice in the recordings alleges that the president was aware his staff and his sister were asking for kickbacks. “He's not involved, but all his close associates are. They ask people (...) and service providers for money,” it says.
The recorded voice tells the president: “Javi, you know that they steal. You know your sister steals, don't play dumb.”
In another extract, the speaker says he warned the president that the embezzlement scheme was being run by a businesswoman linked to the Menem family who was pocketing millions.
“She pockets half a million dollars per month thanks to the medicines,” he says.
On the same day the recordings were released, a complaint was filed against President Milei, Karina Milei, Eduardo Menem, Diego Spagnuolo and Eduardo Kovalivker, the owner of Suizo Argentina.
WatchArgentina plunged into recession as Milei's government imposes drastic budget cuts
The group are accused of participating in a “system of collecting and paying bribes linked to the purchase and supply of medicines, with a direct impact on state funds”.
The lawyer who filed the complaint, Gregorio Dalbón, is one of the former legal representatives of Peronist ex-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was in power from 2007 to 2015 and is currently under house arrest after being sentenced for corruption.
Prosecutors ordered at least 15 searches in connection with the investigation. On August 22, $266,000 and 7 million Argentine pesos (around $5,000) were seized from businessman Emmanuel Kovalivker – a co-director, along with his father Eduardo, of Suizo Argentina.
Mobile phones belonging to Spagnuolo and the Kovalivkers were also seized by investigators to compare the leaked audio recordings with other conversations.
According to local media, no conversations with Karina or Javier Milei were found on Spagnuolo’s mobile phone during the investigation despite their apparently close relationship.
President Milei on Wednesday told journalists that he would bring Spagnuolo “to justice and prove he lied”, hinting that he might press charges against the former director of Andis.
Karina Milei has so far made no public comment on the charges against her.
Several hours after the scandal broke, Spagnuolo was dismissed from his role as one of the president’s lawyers as a “preventative” measure.
The Argentine presidency also placed Andis under its jurisdiction for 180 days.
Eduardo and Martín Menem on Monday denied the allegations against them, saying they were an attempt at political maneuvering ahead of crucial legislative elections in Argentina in October.
Suizo Argentina denied any irregularities in its activities in a statement shared by President Milei on social media on Tuesday.
Milei’s second corruption scandal
The corruption scandal comes amid broader tensions over disability benefits in Argentina. The executive branch is currently examining Argentina’s disability benefits system due to suspicions over irregularities on the list of beneficiaries.
In early August, Milei vetoed laws approved by Congress aimed at helping the elderly and disabled, sparking angry reactions from lawmakers. Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies later rejected the presidential veto.
This is not the first time that President Milei has been caught up in a corruption scandal. In February 2025, the president promoted the $LIBRA cryptocurrency on the X social network. After Milei's endorsement, the currency soared in value but then plummeted 90 percent within two hours.
Industry experts called the operation a "rug pull" – a scam where developers unveil a crypto token, attract investors, then quickly cash out. The Argentine government created a special investigations unit to investigate any irregularities, but it was disbanded by presidential decree in May.
Milei is about to face his first test at the polls since being elected president in 2023: mid-term elections will go ahead on October 26 to elect around half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate.
The election will also offer some insight into how voters feel about Milei, who has enacted drastic public spending cuts aimed at reining in inflation but which have also plunged Argentina into recession.
This article was adapted from the original in French by Joanna York.
English (US) · 