Sur Finanzas Scandal: Money Laundering and Corruption in Argentine Football

These sporting irregularities are compounded by these murky economic transactions. Sur Finanzas, known among Argentine football fans for its sponsorships of teams, made headlines in political sections of the media this year when Federal Judge Sebastián Casanello and Prosecutor Franco Picardi detected that money from alleged corruption at the National Disability Agency (ANDIS), led by Diego Spagnuolo, moved through this company. In the last year and a half, the DGI uncovered a suspected money laundering operation conducted through Sur Finanzas' virtual wallet via QR code payments, SurPos—the financial firm's own payment system—and payment links. The company also processed a loan of nearly 2 billion pesos for San Lorenzo while it was being managed by Marcelo Moretti, who is now under investigation for fraudulent administration. The DGI (Arca) data comes amid the fierce controversy surrounding the football world over the dealings of Tapia and Pablo Toviggino, his right-hand man. According to the DGI's investigation, Sur Finanzas, which on paper belongs to Ariel Vallejo, evaded payment of over $3.3 billion in the 'Tax on Checks' between 2022 and this year. However, the most alarming aspect is the massive structure dedicated to money laundering that, according to the work of the AFIP's Southern Region, revolves around Sur Finanzas—a small company that was founded in Adrogué four years ago and, with the help of the AFA and its president, Chiqui Tapia, became a privileged advertiser and lender to clubs in the Argentine first division. How did the DGI arrive at this data? According to sources with access to the investigation, among the 'uncategorized subjects'—that is, those with no known economic activity to the State—several moved more than one billion pesos. Meanwhile, 27% of users of the Sur Finanzas virtual wallet are monotributistas (simplified tax regime payers) with very low detected economic capacity, making it impossible to determine how they obtained that money to make these movements. According to the investigators, the operation allegedly used to launder assets moved around 818 billion pesos. On this front, the DGI considers that Sur Finanzas evaded $3.327 billion since it began operating in 2022 until this April. In total, if you add up the operations of all those who moved more than one billion, the total reaches $223.441 billion. Meanwhile, among the monotributistas of very low categories who paid or received money through the Sur Finanzas virtual wallet, there are 32 people who moved more than one billion pesos. They are accused of allegedly manipulating refereeing and benefiting certain teams like Barracas Central and Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero, linked to Tapia and Toviggino respectively. According to that report, until this April, $818 billion was moved through that virtual wallet. The darkest part is the detail of who was making those movements. Just those 32 monotributistas moved a total of $193.599 billion. Sur Finanzas sponsors the Professional Football League tournament. This structure led investigators to suspect that all this money in the hands of people who were not even registered with the AFIP or were monotributistas of very low categories comes from a 'marginal circuit,' as detailed by one of the people who saw the results of the investigation. In addition to the crime of money laundering, the DGI considers that Sur Finanzas did not pay the 'Tax on Checks' that it should have charged to the companies operating with its systems or to individuals not covered by the exceptions provided for the Tax on Debits and Credits, the formal name of the tax on checks. 31% were 'uncategorized subjects,' meaning they did not even have a registration in ARCA. Also, 9% of these subjects are outright fictitious. Maximiliano Vallejo is the one who posts photos on his social media with Chiqui Tapia, who managed to have the AFA Professional League Tournament named 'Copa Sur Finanzas' in recent years; who spoke as a shirt sponsor for Racing; who promoted advertising at Barracas Central—Tapia's club—and other teams like Banfield, Platense, Atlanta, and Deportivo Morón. In August 2024, the company changed its name to Sur Finanzas PSP SA. However, all of the company's public activity appears under his name. The complaint was received by the federal prosecutor's office number 2 in Lomas de Zamora. The company under investigation was born in 2022 under the name Neblockchain SA in an apartment in Adrogué, but, according to a study by the Customs Revenue and Control Agency, began to develop greater activity in November 2023 as a cryptocurrency operator and as a virtual wallet, dedicated to processing and managing payments made by clients of small businesses. The General Directorate of Taxation reported to Justice the financial company linked to the head of the AFA, Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia.