The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is once again under judicial scrutiny after court-ordered procedures at its Ezeiza training complex and headquarters , as part of an investigation into the handling of funds abroad through TourProdEnter and its possible link to a luxury mansion in Pilar allegedly connected to the federation's treasurer Pablo Toviggino.
The operation was ordered by Campana judge Adrián González Charvay and carried out by the Coast Guard, with the aim of seizing paper and digital documentation related to banking and accounting records tied to contracts between AFA and businessman Javier Faroni.
Judicial sources told local media that no relevant material was found in Ezeiza and only one computer was seized, while “plenty of material” was collected at the Viamonte offices during a procedure that lasted several hours.
Courts already had contracts signed between AFA’s current leadership and TourProdEnter, the company that handled the association’s international business and funds, as well as the firm’s balance sheets obtained from the General Corporate Registry. The latest procedures were aimed at securing documentary evidence to trace the flow of money through that structure.
Investigators suspect irregular manoeuvres in AFA’s management of funds abroad and believe part of those millions of dollars may have been diverted through shell companies. The investigation is focusing on sponsorship deals, commercial agency agreements, logistics contracts and the collection of international revenues, a structure under which TourProdEnter allegedly charged a 30 percent commission plus another 10 percent for logistics services.
A key part of the investigation centres on a luxury property in Pilar valued at US$17 million, formally owned by Luciano Pantano and his retired mother, Ana Lucía Conte. Courts believe neither has the declared income necessary to justify the purchase or the high-end cars and luxury items found during a search of the property last December.
Investigators suspect the real owner may be Toviggino. An AFA bag, a Barracas Central plaque bearing his name and an AFA corporate card used by Pantano to pay monthly expenses worth millions of pesos were all found at the property. Several vehicles registered to relatives of the treasurer were also identified. The judge’s hypothesis is that the purchase may have been financed, at least partly, with money from the financial circuits now under investigation around TourProdEnter.
When Coast Guard officers arrived at the Viamonte headquarters, they found a sign on the door reading: “Closed. Please go to Mercedes 1366, Pilar.” That address corresponds to a site where AFA is attempting to move its headquarters, although the relocation has not been formally authorised and the building is not operational. The episode added to the atmosphere of suspicion surrounding the investigation.
Hours later, AFA attempted to downplay the situation with a press release stating that “no searches were conducted” and that the procedure was merely a “request for information” as part of ongoing legal proceedings. The association said its internal operations were functioning normally and called for responsibility to avoid public confusion. The difference between that version and the courts’ account once again highlighted tensions between the judiciary and the leadership of AFA president Claudio Tapia.
The investigation is spread across several case files. In addition to González Charvay’s case in Campana, there are proceedings underway in Lomas de Zamora under judge Luis Armella and prosecutor Cecilia Incardona, as well as another federal case opened following a complaint by businessman Guillermo Tofoni over alleged misappropriation of AFA funds. The Campana judge is seeking to centralise the cases to avoid overlapping evidence and contradictory rulings.
Even within the Pilar mansion investigation, there is an ongoing jurisdiction dispute between González Charvay and economic criminal judge Marcelo Aguinsky, who are contesting control of the case. The Federal Cassation Court is scheduled to rule on the matter at a hearing on March 30. So far, prosecutors involved in the case have argued that Aguinsky should retain jurisdiction, adding further uncertainty to an increasingly sensitive investigation.
AFA has already been the subject of other procedures linked to TourProdEnter and Sur Finanzas, the firm run by Ariel Vallejo, another businessman who entered the football world through his links to Tapia. There were also searches at 18 football clubs and at Faroni’s home in Nordelta. Friday’s procedures, however, increased pressure because they targeted the heart of Argentine football’s institutional structure.
With contracts, balance sheets and banking records already in judicial hands, the next step could be a detailed accounting expert report to determine whether investigators can prove what is currently only suspicion: that behind AFA’s international business there was opaque financial engineering and that part of that money may have ended up funding assets and operations that cannot be justified on paper.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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