Argentine authorities probe top officials over bribery accusations

Argentine authorities carried out raids on several properties on Friday as part of an investigation into an alleged kickback scheme that could implicate senior officials, local media reports.

Police in Argentina seized mobile phones and a cash-counting machine during a raid on the home of Diego Spagnuolo, who led the disability agency until his dismissal earlier this week. The move is part of a wider criminal probe.

President Javier Milei’s government announced on Thursday via X that Spagnuolo had been removed from his post “as a preventive measure.”

Earlier in the week, local outlets released audio recordings in which a voice resembling Spagnuolo’s is heard discussing bribery within the agency.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the tapes, nor the circumstances in which they were recorded.

In the recordings, the voice complains that “they are defrauding my agency,” and implies that Karina Milei, the president’s sister and chief of staff, had received illicit payments. He also claims to have raised the matter with the president, saying “they didn’t fix anything.”

The presidential office has not commented publicly, and Karina Milei did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Government officials have not confirmed the tapes’ authenticity, while the chief of cabinet insisted that, according to the president, Spagnuolo had never mentioned bribery allegations to him.

The scandal comes at a sensitive moment for Milei, who this week suffered multiple defeats in Congress, including a move by lawmakers to overturn a presidential veto blocking increased financial aid for disabled citizens.

With midterm elections due in October, widely seen as a referendum on his austerity drive and pro-market reforms-the affair risks further destabilising his government.

The investigation, led by a federal judge, has so far targeted the disability agency, a pharmaceutical firm, and several private residences, according to the newspaper 'La Nación'.

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