Pressure mounts on Milei's Cabinet chief Adorni after cash stash admission

Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni was facing mounting political and legal pressure on Friday after admitting he had omitted US$500,000 from his asset declarations, prompting a fresh opposition complaint and criticism from allies of President Javier Milei's government.

Lawmakers from the opposition Coalición Cívica party filed a criminal complaint against Adorni on Friday for alleged "false statements," while sectors allied to the government called on Milei to withdraw his support for the official.

Coalición Cívica deputies Mónica Frade and Maximiliano Ferraro filed the criminal complaint, arguing that Adorni had deliberately concealed assets and property in his sworn declarations, according to the court filing.

Veteran ex-lawmaker Elisa ‘Lilita’ Carrió, the historic leader of the Coalición Cívica, said Friday that Adorni was just one official from “this government of corrupt officials.”

The Cabinet chief is already facing a separate investigation for a series of discrepancies in his financial disclosures since becoming a public official in December 2023, although he has not been formally charged nor questioned in the case to date,

Adorni had been under growing scrutiny for more than three months following revelations about his assets before filing his 2025 declaration on Wednesday, along with amended versions of his 2023 and 2024 submissions.

The updated filing included around US$500,000 allegedly derived from cryptocurrency investments which – Adorni claimed during a television interview – he had saved "off the books."

He described his actions as an "error" that he was willing to correct, while paying any applicable fines and interest.

"He cannot hide behind a mistake. It is not an excusable error," Frade said in comments to the AFP news agency.

The lawmaker also argued that Adorni had shown an "intention to continue that lie" when he previously appeared before Congress on April 29 and stated "there was not any concealment whatsoever" of his assets.

The centre-right PRO party, led by former president Mauricio Macri and allied with Milei’s government in Congress, urged the President to stop backing Adorni.

"Mr President: those of us supporting change want you to defend change, not Adorni," the party said in a post on social media.

Separate leaks also triggered a judicial investigation into the purchase of undeclared properties over the past two years. Adorni has not yet been summoned to testify in that case.

Milei has continued to offer his Cabinet chief unequivocal support, repeatedly insisting that he knows Adorni has "everything in order.”

– TIMES/AFP

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