Hayden Davis, the founder of $LIBRA meme coin, is facing an Interpol Red Notice request as Argentina intensifies its investigation into the scam that drained $100 million from investors, according to a report from local media outlet Página12 on Wednesday.
The report says attorney Gregorio Dalbón has formally asked the Argentine courts to issue an international arrest warrant, claiming Hayden is a flight risk due to his enormous wealth and global connections.
Dalbón insists that Hayden must be extradited, warning that his financial resources could allow him to escape justice indefinitely. Prosecutor Eduardo Taiano is leading the case and has expanded his warrant to include president Javier Milei’s inner circle, per the report.
That’s because President Javier Milei promoted $ LIBRA on his X account, promising an economic revival for Argentinians through it. However, it quickly collapsed after he deleted the post, wiping out millions in investor funds in a classic rug pull style.
Meanwhile, Javier has since maintained that he is innocent, even as Hayden admits that they orchestrated the whole thing together. In a statement from February, Kelsier Ventures, Hayden’s company, said:
“President Milei actively promoted $LIBRA before suddenly reversing his position. This abrupt decision was made without prior notice and directly contradicted previous assurances.”
The legal pressure is also hitting Javier’s sister, Karina Milei, who is being accused of accepting payments from Hayden to promote $LIBRA. Hayden, who was the person that first made the claim, is now vehemently denying that any bribes took place, saying, “Recent media reports claiming I paid President Javier Milei or his sister, Karina Milei, to launch the $LIBRA memecoin are completely false.” He also said: “Our goal was, can we take enough liquidity off to get all the snipers out.”
Argentina pushes for Hayden’s arrest and extradition
Dalbón argues that Hayden is too dangerous to remain free, saying his ability to relocate and obstruct the case. “Given the magnitude of the scandal and the significant losses caused to investors, the procedural risk of Hayden remaining free is evident,” he said in his court filing.
Hayden has not yet been taken into custody, but he broke his silence this week after four weeks of MIA, announcing that he will appear in court and has hired a new legal team.
Hayden has reportedly been in discussions with Marcos Salt and Natalia Sergi, two high-profile attorneys, though they have not yet been officially retained.
In a brief statement, Hayden’s team insisted that he “did nothing wrong,” which is crazy since there are interviews of him in February admitting to at least five different international crimes, like when he appeared on Coffeezilla.
Though after that, in a livestream with Dave Portnoy, Hayden tried to downplay the allegations. “I’m just custodying money that should be for the government or at least the country of Argentina,” he claimed. Hayden also insisted, “I never made any payments to them, nor did they request any.”
$100 million vanished as investors blame Milei and Hayden
The fallout from $LIBRA’s collapse has justifiably led to a ton of lawsuits as thousands of defrauded investors seek justice.
The first major complaint, filed by Claudio Lozano, along with lawyers Jonatan Baldiviezo and Marcos Zelaya, triggered a domino effect of legal actions. Among those filing additional complaints are Dalbón, congressman Itaí Hagman, and activist Juan Grabois.
Martín Romeo, a crypto analyst and investor who heavily supported Milei’s campaign, invested in $LIBRA, advising others to do the same, but after losing everything, he approached Judge María Servini to be recognized as a plaintiff, reportedly presenting evidence of his transactions in court.
Servini denied his request though, saying that it was unclear whether this was a scam or an entirely different kind of financial crime. But Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado accepted Romeo’s testimony, and so that could complicate jurisdictional disputes over the case.
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