Fresh details about a previously undisclosed private mortgage taken out by Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni have added to mounting questions over his finances, the latest development in an escalating scandal surrounding one of President Javier Milei’s closest aides.
According to reports Adorni secured a US$100,000-loan from two private individuals on November 15, 2024, when he was serving as Milei’s spokesperson. The funds were used to finance an apartment purchase on Avenida Asamblea in the south of Buenos Aires, in a transaction structured through a private mortgage rather than a bank loan.
The disclosure, verified in Adorni’s filings to Argentina’s Anti-Corruption Office, is the latest development in a widening investigation into the official’s assets, which has in recent weeks expanded to include allegations of undeclared property and unexplained spending.
Prosecutors are already examining whether the Cabinet chief failed to report a house in a gated community in the Indio Cua gated community in Exaltación de la Cruz, allegedly acquired in 2024 by his wife Bettina Angeletti and not listed in his asset declarations.
According to media reports, the home in Exaltación de la Cruz was purchased on the same day Adorni secured the loan for the property in Avenida Asamblea.
Separately, judicial complaints have been filed over Adorni’s use of private flights, including a trip to Punta del Este, with critics questioning whether the costs are compatible with his declared income.
The case has been formally framed as a probe into alleged illicit enrichment, with multiple complaints lodged in federal court and requests for documentation covering the official’s financial activities.
Against that backdrop, the newly revealed mortgage raises further questions about the origin and structure of funds used in the couple’s property acquisitions.
The loan was granted by two women – Graciela Isabel Molina de Cancio contributing US$85,000 and Victoria María José Cancio the other US$15,000 – and was declared as dollar-denominated debt in Adorni’s 2024 filing to the Anti-Corruption Office.
The official formally reported a debt of 43,860,000 pesos to Molina de Cancio and another of 7,740,000 pesos to Cancio.
According to reporting by La Nación, Molina de Cancio is a retired commissioner of the Federal Police and served as head of the General Directorate of Police Training Schools until 2021.
The use of private lenders, rather than financial institutions, mirrors another transaction carried out by Adorni for a separate property purchase in Caballito, Buenos Aires City.
In the latter case case, the mortgage was granted by the previous owners, Beatriz Viegas, 72, and Claudia Sbabo, 64, who lent him US$200,000 – nearly 90 percent of the sale price listed in the deed, which multiple real-estate agents said was well below market value.
The same notary, Adriana Mónica Nechevenko, is reported to have certified multiple real-estate operations involving Adorni and his wife, and has been summoned by prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita to provide documentation on the couple’s property dealings as part of the ongoing investigation.
Nechevenko has visited the Casa Rosada at least seven times since Adorni began working there, according to government records.
The controversy comes at a sensitive moment for the Milei administration, already facing broader corruption allegations involving senior officials and financial dealings.
For Adorni, a central figure in the government’s public messaging, the accumulating revelations have shifted attention from political communication to personal finances.
The Cabinet chief continues to enjoy the backing of President Milei and his team, with the head of state backing Adorni at a meeting of top government officials on Monday.
– TIMES/NA
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