$LIBRA case forensic report points to payments from Novelli to Milei since 2021, La Nación says
The newspaper also traced how Novelli and his circle allegedly sought to capitalize on their proximity to Milei
A forensic report added to the judicial case around the $LIBRA scandal contains references to payments that businessman Mauricio Novelli allegedly made to Javier Milei from 2021, when he was still a congressman, for classes and promotional work tied to N&W Profesional Traders, according to La Nación. The report also points to indications of money transfers or cash deliveries even after Milei became president.
According to La Nación, citing the forensic extraction of Novelli’s phone by experts from the Dirección de Apoyo Tecnológico a la Investigación Penal (DATIP), the commercial relationship began when N&W Profesional Traders added Milei as an instructor in courses on financial education and cryptocurrencies. The newspaper said the recovered messages show payments in pesos and in U.S. dollars, with several exchanges suggesting a monthly pattern.
Among the items highlighted is an August 2023 exchange in which Novelli allegedly told his secretary to pay “Milei’s usual US$2,000,” alongside other conversations about selling cryptocurrencies to obtain cash for payments to Milei and other figures linked to the courses. Those messages are part of the material extracted from Novelli’s phone in the judicial file.
The report further says the relationship may have continued after Milei’s move to the Casa Rosada. La Nación wrote that N&W kept offering recorded classes by the now-president as part of its course catalogue, and that an April 2024 audio recovered from Novelli’s device referred to gathering “the 4,000 for Karina.” The article does not present a conclusive finding about the final destination of that money, but describes it as one of the elements under judicial review.
The newspaper also traced how Novelli and his circle allegedly sought to capitalize on their proximity to Milei. The forensic chats show efforts to promote courses, boost events such as Tech Forum and use the president’s image in communications with sponsors and potential clients. The paper says that commercial and political link expanded as Milei gained public prominence and later reached the presidency.
The material now in the public domain adds pressure to the broader $LIBRA investigation, which was already examining links between Novelli, people in the presidential orbit and actors in the crypto ecosystem. In a separate report published the previous day, the forensic review recorded calls between Milei, Karina Milei and Novelli around the timing of the crypto asset’s launch.
For now, the only publicly available documents consist of excerpts, messages and audios attributed to the official forensic review. Without open access to the full court file or a full official release of the document, the final evidentiary weight of those findings will depend on what investigators and the court ultimately establish.
