The judge in Economic Crimes, Marcelo Aguinsky, ordered the immediate suspension of a corporate card from the Argentine Football Association (AFA) that was being used by Luciano Pantano, identified as one of the alleged frontmen for the entity's treasurer, Pablo Toviggino, in a case for alleged money laundering and fraudulent administration. According to the court resolution, the corporate card—ending in 1007 and issued in Pantano's name—registered monthly expenses close to 50 million pesos between January and December 2025, despite the fact that the cardholder currently holds no formal position within the AFA. The AFA president, Chiqui Tapia, is also indirectly mentioned in the file due to his connection with the club and officials involved in the case. In a recent ruling, Aguinsky indicated that, provisionally, the preceding crime of alleged money laundering could be framed as fraudulent administration, under article 173, section 7 of the Penal Code, to the detriment of the AFA and through its directors. For the Justice, neither has the declared economic capacity to justify such assets, which reinforces the hypothesis that they would be acting as frontmen. During the raids carried out at the end of 2025, items linked directly to the AFA leadership were found at the property, including an institutional bag and a plaque from the Barracas Central club in Toviggino's name. The company complied with the instruction immediately. The magistrate emphasized that the judicial intervention seeks to 'put a brake on the continued harm, preventing irreversible economic losses and interrupting its development,' without prejudice to any civil actions that may correspond in the future. In a first report, it had already been verified that with that card, the Telepase tolls for 54 luxury and collector's vehicles seized in a mansion in Pilar were being paid. The investigation is part of a broader case that analyzes the origin of the funds used to purchase a mansion of over 100,000 square meters in Pilar, acquired in May 2024 for 1.8 million dollars, although officially appraised at a much higher value. Pantano and his mother, Ana Lucía Conte, appear as the owners of that property, as well as dozens of high-end vehicles and other homes in gated communities in the northern Buenos Aires area, all registered in the name of the company Real Central S.R.L. Subsequently, a new report from the company EDENOR confirmed that electricity services for properties unrelated to the association's activities were also being paid. In his resolution, Aguinsky stated that 'it emerges that with the American Express Corporate Card, electricity supply services were paid for numerous homes that would be unrelated to the proper functioning of the sports institution,' and ordered the issuing entity to preventively suspend all debits. Furthermore, several of the vehicle registration certificates were in the name of relatives of the entity's treasurer.
