Overview
- On Wednesday, June 17, Mauricio Novelli filed a 46‑page court motion seeking to remove five admitted querellantes and to throw out the criminal estafa theory in the $LIBRA investigation.
- Novelli's filing argues the record lacks the four legal elements of estafa — a deceptive representation, an induced error, a patrimonial disposition and a causal loss — and asks the court to declare there is no actionable fraud.
- The defense rejects the view that President Javier Milei's February 14, 2025 post was an investment pitch, calls the token a real but highly volatile memecoin, and invokes buyer 'self‑responsibility' for speculative losses.
- Preliminary reconstructions in the case file report roughly 74,000 purchasers, about $286 million withdrawn by nine founder accounts and about $100 million taken by early sellers, figures central to contested theories about a possible 'rug pull'.
- Judge Marcelo Martínez De Giorgi will forward the motion to prosecutor Eduardo Taiano for response and his ruling will determine investors' procedural role and influence how Argentine criminal law treats sharp losses in unregulated crypto markets.