Khaberni - Retired Argentine football star Carlos Tevez posted a tweet in March 2024, suggesting something suspicious happening in a suburb of Buenos Aires, with Tevez claiming that the treasurer of the Argentine Football Association had made numerous trips to the Pilar suburb, hinting that the official in the association was burying bags of money and keeping a collection of vintage cars.
The Civic Coalition party, a progressive political party, began an investigation following Tevez's post and filed a criminal complaint focusing on a mysterious villa in Pilar.
As the World Cup approached, allegations that the villa might have been used for money laundering became part of a series of scandals sweeping the Argentine Football Association, the current world champion.
Early in December, the police raided the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association and more than 12 clubs, as part of an investigation into money laundering involving club-linked money transfers and a financial services company.
Three days later, the police raided the Pilar villa and found a helicopter landing pad, stables, and 54 vehicles, including luxury and rare cars.
The Civic Coalition party alleges in its criminal complaint that the property is a front for a money laundering scheme linked to Claudio Tapia, the president of the Argentine Football Association, and its treasurer Pablo Toviggino.
Last week, according to the local La Nacion newspaper, in another case, the public prosecutor charged Tapia and Toviggino and other officials in the association with the illegal retention of taxes totaling $13 million following a complaint from the Argentine tax agency.
The Argentine Football Association did not respond to a request from Reuters for an interview with both Tapia and Toviggino and to comment on the various judicial investigations that have recently been opened.
The Argentine Football Association stated in a release that it is being attacked by the government of President Javier Milei, referring to Milei's pressure for football clubs in the country, which have long operated as nonprofit organizations run by their members, to become profitable companies under private management.
The association said: "We are on the right track," showcasing the championships Argentina has won since Tapia took over the presidency in 2017, including the 2022 World Cup.
A representative for Tevez did not respond to a request for an interview, and Toviggino did not respond to a request for comment.
Despite Argentina's on-field performance, the local football association is experiencing its biggest crisis in years.
Argentine sports journalist Nestor Centra said: "There are two Argentine Football Associations," referring to the success on the international level and the instability domestically.
Several months after Tevez's tweet, Matias Yovi, president of the Civic Coalition branch in Pilar, said he and his colleagues spoke to about ten employees who worked at the Pilar property and assumed that either Toviggino or Tapia owned it.
Yovi stated that one person described Tabia who once arrived by helicopter, then gifted the employees football shirts.
Yovi added: "What they described is that they acted as owners of the place, entered the swimming pool and used the facilities."
He continued, "Everyone pointed out that this place belongs to people from the Argentine Football Association."]
The party's complaint alleges that the property was bought in 2024 by a company owned by Anna Lucia Conti and Luciano Nicolas Pantano, mother and son who, according to the lawsuit, could not afford the purchase. The lawyer representing Pantano did not respond to a request for comment.
Records seen by Reuters indicate that the property, spanning several residential blocks, was purchased for $1.8 million, though experts believe its value is much higher.
The complaint points to Pantano's connections to the football world, like his presidency of the Argentine Indoor and Beach Football Association.
According to court documents, during the raid, the authorities found a black synthetic leather bag bearing the logo of the Argentine Football Association and Toviggino's name, along with several football books and a commemorative plaque bearing his name, and the vehicles on site included a Ferrari and several Porsche cars, registered under the company attributed in the lawsuit to Pantano and Conti.
An official familiar with the case confirmed that relatives of Toviggino have permits to drive at least several cars, corroborating a report aired by the local television station (TN). The authorities sought information about the pilots who used the helicopter landing pad, hoping to identify the passengers.
The Ministry of Justice demanded the Argentine Football Association and the Premier League, which manages the broadcast rights to the games, explain accounting data worth about half a billion dollars dating back to 2017.
Daniel Vitolo, head of the Inspector General's Office in the ministry, told Reuters that these amounts fall under general categories in the financial reports labeled “other."
He explained: "If the papers of the Argentine Football Association are indeed correct, then why not explain something very easy to explain?"
