One of the defendants in the $LIBRA case argued that savers took risks and lost, but were not scammed

Mauricio Novelli, one of the crypto entrepreneurs who organized the launch of the memecoin $LIBRA, appeared before the Justice to assert that the savers who bought the asset were not scammed, but rather took risks and lost, emphasizing that it was a private venture without state involvement. He also absolved President Javier Milei of responsibility by stating that his post on social media X on February 14, 2025, which he later deleted announcing the launch of the cryptocurrency, is "legally and criminally irrelevant". Novelli made this assertion, with the sponsorship of lawyer Daniel Rubinovich, while requesting the Federal Court to confirm the ruling of federal judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, who removed investors Juan Patricio Marchetto, Alan Vega, Matías Alejandro Paris, Braian Emanuel Quintero, and Martín Romeo as plaintiffs (victims) in the case. This presentation, which LA NACION accessed, comes at a time when the Federal Court, which must resolve this matter, is undergoing a transformation, as the Government pushes for the arrival of Pablo Yadarola and the ratification of Pablo Bertuzzi in the court. The case must be resolved by Chamber I of the court. Bertuzzi would remain in his position and would understand the case, but Leopoldo Bruglia would leave the position and Yadarola would assume as a substitute, thus giving the Government its imprint on the court. On Wednesday, the Government's chosen ones for the court, Yadarola and Bertuzzi --- who competed for the position --- must appear before the Senate Agreements Commission for their respective public hearings, the first step for their applications to be treated in the chamber and for them to take an oath as judges. If the removal of the plaintiffs in the case is confirmed, asserting that there is no scam, only an accusation of incompatible negotiations with public function would persist, which reaches President Milei for having promoted $LIBRA. The advancement of this accusatory hypothesis depends solely on the push from prosecutor Eduardo Taiano. Novelli argued that the Court must confirm the removal of the plaintiffs because he stated that "the file has become a vain attempt to transform ex post a speculative loss into a fraudulent maneuver". "There is no plausibly typical hypothesis of fraud that justifies the permanence of the then plaintiffs in that role," said lawyer Rubinovich. The lawyer recalled that "Argentine criminal law does not sanction speculative losses, poor financial decisions, or volatility phenomena" and that fraud "requires a suitable deception to provoke an error and determine a detrimental patrimonial disposition". The plaintiffs said they were induced to deception by a "concrete, planned, and executed fraudulent maneuver with millimetric coordination", but the defense stated that they did not specify what the supposed falsehood was that would have led them to an error in their will. The lawyer dismissed the argument that the plaintiffs acted out of fear of missing out on the business, something that is referred to in jargon as FOMO. "Those who act driven by FOMO do not operate believing falsely that the asset is risk-free. Nor do they do so because they are unaware of market volatility, nor because they have been induced to believe a falsehood. The more the purchase is explained by euphoria, viralization, momentum, or fear of losing an opportunity, the weaker the thesis of a disposition governed by an error caused by deception becomes," he wrote. For Novelli's defense, Milei's post on social media X - which he later deleted - announcing the launch of the memecoin $LIBRA is "legally and criminally irrelevant". He stated that his post on February 14, 2025 presented a "private project", aimed at incentivizing the growth of the Argentine economy. "The publication did not promise profitability, stability of the p

recio, state backing, coverage against losses, or guaranteed returns. He promised nothing. He also did not claim that the token was a regulated instrument or free of risk," he indicated, separating Milei from the business. "The recurrent attempts to attribute a meaning to the message that does not arise from its text. It was a merely political message, focusing on the only aspect that would have caught the president's attention. From the perspective presented, the novelty of the project was given by the combination of the blockchain industry and the decentralized financing of small and medium enterprises, that is, without resorting to the traditional financial system," the defense said. Novelli's defense argued that "it is surprising that a message celebrating a private financing mechanism can be understood as a state initiative." He insisted that there is no identifiable deception and that the losses from the memecoin are risks "freely assumed" in an unregulated market. The memorial transcribes the full text of Milei's post and argues that there was no promise of profitability, price stability, state backing, or coverage against losses. Rubinovich states that the way each victim invested and lost reflects that they were not naive, but seasoned operators in the crypto market who understood their risks. "The fluctuation of an asset's price cannot turn every buyer into a victim of fraud", summarized Novelli's writing. The businessman stated that this is an unregulated market and that the "self-responsibility of those who decide to acquire highly volatile instruments" applies. The defense clarified, however, that this is "not an authorization to deceive" and that the duties of self-protection do not neutralize a lie: it simply maintains that in this case, there is no lie to neutralize. Novelli stated that investors are now trying to turn the case into a corruption case because they cannot prove the fraud. He refers to the accusations of incompatible negotiations with public office. Therefore, they point out that "the private complainant is not an anti-corruption prosecutor, nor a popular action accuser." He even stated that the complainants did not prove to be the holders of the wallets from which they claim to have purchased. The decision made by Chamber I -composed of Bruglia, Mariano Llorens, and Bertuzzi- will define whether the five victims regain the role that allowed them, until July, to propose evidence measures, insist on requests for investigation and appeal resolutions. Without them, the accusation remains solely in the hands of prosecutor Taiano, questioned by the complaints for delays and subject to a request from the special commission of Deputies before the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Public Ministry. Meanwhile, the case is progressing through another channel: before the recess, Martínez de Giorgi granted a request from Taiano and ordered to freeze 25 cryptocurrency addresses on Binance, Bybit, OKX, CoinEx, FixedFloat, and Bitfinex, with requests for identification of holders based on a report from the Technical Department of Cybercrime of the Federal Police. In parallel, a group of savers represented by Nicolás Oszust is preparing a civil lawsuit for damages against the accused, following the failure of mediation.

Old Connection

The connection between Milei and Novelli did not begin in politics, but in the business of financial training. Novelli, along with his partner Jeremías Walsh, founded the institute N&W Professional Traders, dedicated to training in trading and investments. It was in this context that their relationship began: Milei had been teaching courses there since 2020 in exchange for fees. Novelli started paying Milei in pesos and dollars for his services as an economist, and the relationship expanded as the libertarian gained media prominence, secured a seat as a deputy, and eventually reached the presidency. The documentation included in the file shows that this initial commercial contact solidified over time until it developed into a frequent arrangement, with a level of trust that exceeded the professional. Novelli visited the Casa Rosada on more than one occasion and had meetings with the President and Karina Milei. A selfie at the Casa Rosada was said to be key in attracting sponsors to the Tech Forum and enhancing Novelli's profile within the crypto ecosystem. Together with Manuel Terrones Godoy, he organized the Tech Forum Argentina in 2024, the event where Milei met Julian Peh, the businessman based in Singapore identified among those responsible for the creation of the token. From Novelli's phone emerged communications with Karina Milei and a video call that included Santiago Caputo, along with nearly 200 interactions during the weekend of the token's collapse. A document in English was also recovered, dated three days before the launch, describing a payment scheme for five million dollars linked to the promotion of the digital currency.

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