On Friday local time, police raided a property in Pilar on the order of Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas. The property is owned by a company named Real Central SRL, registered under the names of Luciano Nicolás Pantano and Ana Lucía Conte.
The two are suspected of acting as proxies (front men for corrupt officials) for Argentine Football Association (AFA) officials. Police discovered a large warehouse there containing 54 vehicles, which have been seized.
During the raid, the Federal Court of Comodoro Py ruled that the case would be transferred to the Federal Criminal Economic Court instead of being heard by Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas. Nevertheless, legal proceedings continued as planned.
Previously, both Judge Rafecas and Judge Marcelo Aginsky of the Federal Criminal Economic Court claimed they had no jurisdiction over the case. The federal court's ruling resolved the conflict between the courts. Ultimately, the court determined that the case must be heard by a specialized court as it may involve economic and financial order, and no public officials are currently under investigation.
Everything began on March 5, 2024, after a controversial 2-2 draw between Independiente and Barracas Central, when Carlos Tevez clashed with Pablo Toviggino on social media.
Tevez sharply accused the referees of "robbing us" and claimed he knew they were going to "face 14 players" in the match.
Pablo Toviggino's Sarcastic Response on X
"Since you didn't pay attention in your coaching classes, I'm sure there are things you don't understand. Strangely enough, the fouls you committed as a player were enough to get you imprisoned, but you only got a yellow card. Besides, I didn't hear you speak up in some previous matches—I'll leave it at that. Anyway, my memory is like a windmill."
Carlos Tevez's Legally Significant Response
"Toviggino, are you a bit delirious from all your frequent trips to Pilar? Besides hoarding vintage and imported cars in Pilar, you also have to bury the luggage you brought back from your friends in Qatar and China. Remember Alibaba?"
Tevez's tweet was cleverly used by Elisa Carrió, President of the Pilar Citizens' Union Matías Jofré, and Buenos Aires legislator Facundo del Gaizo as the basis for money laundering allegations filed with the Regional Conference of Public Prosecutors of Latin America and the Caribbean (PROCELAC) and the Federal Supreme Court.
"With just a little common sense, one can infer that such large-scale economic purchases are obviously impossible," the complainants argued.
"We cannot ignore that public records indicate the mentioned properties and assets—such as collection cars and racehorses—may belong to or be related to Mr. Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, which further highlights the need to investigate the origin and traceability of the aforementioned assets," read the complaint submitted to PROCELAC.
