The leader of the Civic Coalition, Elisa Carrió, denounced on Friday the existence of a "mafia-like judicial-police operation" against Matías Yofe, a leader of her party and the main whistleblower of alleged corruption involving the leadership of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and former officials from the province of Buenos Aires. Carrió personally presented herself at Yofe's home, located in the town of Pilar, where officers from the Buenos Aires Provincial Police were conducting a raid ordered by prosecutor Germán Camafreitas, within the framework of a complaint for alleged extortion that the leader described as "false" and "fabricated to discipline and intimidate." According to Carrió's account, at no point during the procedure was the corresponding judicial order shown, and serious irregularities occurred. Last November, the federal judge of Campana, Adrián González Charvay, indicted D'Onofrio for alleged money laundering of illicit origin and ordered a seizure of 350 million pesos, based on a complaint initiated by Yofe and Carrió. It was reported that the leader has police protection due to death threats and an intimidating episode that occurred months ago, when his dog's body was found disemboweled in front of his home. Among other things, she denounced direct threats against Yofe's wife, whom—according to her—police officers warned would be handcuffed and they could take her four-month-old baby if she did not allow immediate entry into the home. Yofe, who was in Mar del Plata with two of his children at the time of the raid, denounced an "aberrant political persecution supported by a sector of the Judiciary." The former deputy stated that the situation violates international human rights treaties, norms for the protection of women and children's rights, which have constitutional hierarchy. The case that motivated the raid originated from a complaint by a driver linked to D'Onofrio, who claimed to have been threatened months ago to testify in the investigation into the speeding fine business. The leader warned about the risk that this data could be extracted and then leaked to harm the whistleblowers. The seriousness of the episode is reinforced by the previous context of threats against Yofe. After the procedure, the prosecutor ordered the seizure of two cell phones and one computer, and would have indicated that only data corresponding to the days when the alleged threats occurred should be extracted, according to judicial sources. The background of the conflict is part of the so-called "mega-case" for alleged corruption schemes in the traffic fine and Vehicle Technical Verification (VTV) system in the province of Buenos Aires. In the same resolution, former provincial official Facundo Asensio was indicted with a seizure of 300 million. The investigation began in September 2024 and alleges that a criminal structure, allegedly led by D'Onofrio and Pilar councilwoman Claudia Pombo, diverted funds from traffic fines and VTV to later launder them through movable and real estate assets in the name of third parties. She stated that the officers acted violently and intimidatingly while her wife waited for the arrival of defense lawyers. In a formal statement, Carrió—in her capacity as a lawyer, along with lawyer Albana Zoppolo—also denounced that the seizure of cell phones and a computer would aim to access sensitive information linked to the complaints Yofe filed against the AFA and against the former Minister of Transportation of Buenos Aires, Jorge D'Onofrio.
