President Javier Milei was questioned by AFIP tax bureau in 2015 on suspicion of fake invoicing, later facing a moratorium of at least five years signifying almost half his then-salary, according to reports.
The information was reconstructed by Hugo Alconada Mon in Wednesday 's edition of La Nación. The journalist based his article on tax and accountancy documentation and the testimony of five sources aware of his tax and job situation separately consulted over the course of the last 12 months.
These “tax inconveniences” were registered as from 2015 into mid-2020 prior to the launch of Milei’s political career. According to La Nación, Milei contracted lawyers and regularised his situation with the tax authorities to avoid greater problems.
According to Alconada Mon, citing two friends with whom Milei confided, the economist paid out almost 50,000 pesos per month – around US$3,600 at the official exchange rate in late 2015.
At that time his net monthly earnings in Corporación América, the holding company headed by Eduardo Eurnekián, were around 110,000 pesos.
As reconstructed by the newspaper, the questions centred on the invoices issued as a professional while working as “chief economist” for Fundación Acordar, the think tank assembled by current Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos, to supply then-Buenos Aires Province Governor Daniel Scioli with public policy proposals.
Scioli, a veteran Peronist who lost the 2015 presidential election to Mauricio Macri, today serves in Milei’s government as its national Tourism, Environment & Sports secretary.
These suspect invoices number at least 25, issued by Milei on paper (not electronically) in the name of Provincia Seguros to cover “consultancy services,” “expenses,” “complementary studies” and “other fees for work requested,” according to the copies of those invoices obtained by La Nación, which affirms that there is no record of this alleged “consultancy” work by Milei or other services in the archives of Provincia Seguros or at its offices in Buenos Aires City.
The invoices total a sum of 601,000 pesos, which this month would be updated to around 71.9 million pesos, received by Milei when he was working ad honorem for Fundación Acordar, as he himself has claimed on several occasions.
According to La Nación, those were not all the invoices issued in the name of Provincia Seguros.
In 2012, Milei issued others for a total of 32,480 pesos, which this month would be updated to 7.4 million pesos, and in 2013 he issued more invoices for a total of 224,040 pesos or the equivalent of 43.1 million today.
Between 2012 and 2015, Milei issued invoices in the name of Provincia Seguros (a company forming part of the Grupo Provincia holding belonging to Buenos Aires provincial bank) for a total updated to 120,383,868 pesos this month.
According to two sources consulted, the AFIP questions centre on the paper invoices issued as from November, 2014 – i.e. simultaneously to the launch and progress of Scioli’s presidential campaign.
– TIMES
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