Argentina FA caught up in middle of alleged $300m money laundering investigation by FBI amid World Cup
Argentina are dominating the headlines both on and off the pitch during the 2026 World Cup.
La Albiceleste punched their ticket to the quarter finals after a 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt in the round of 16.
However, it wasn’t without controversy for a myriad of reasons, with VAR inconsistencies that saw an Egypt goal disallowed, before officials failed to intervene in the stoppage-time winner scored by Enzo Fernandez for a similar incident – albeit with the roles reversed – in the build-up.
After the match had concluded, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan unleashed a stunning tirade on FIFA, in which he made accusations that the ‘result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it.’
Mostafa Ziko also refused to stay quiet, and in his post-match interview in the immediate aftermath of the events that had unfolded, said that ‘the injustice was clear’ before boldly claiming that ‘this tournament has been fixed.’
It should be noted there is no official evidence to suggest any wrongdoing.
Despite having set up a quarter final clash against Switzerland after they advanced by defeating Colombia 4-3 on penalties, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) are now at the center of another storm.
According to reports emerging out of Argentine newspaper La Nación, there is currently an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for possible money laundering involving the AFA.
The report states that the FBI’s investigation, which preliminarily began during 2025, has already begun to gather information by taking testimonies of the financial operations of the AFA, headed by Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia.
The investigation is being headed by federal prosecutors Patrick Gushue, who is part of the Justice Department’s Banking Integrity Unit, and Christopher Ting in Washington DC.
Michael Berger, who serves in the Southern District of Florida is also involved, and was part of the prosecution that convicted former Ecuadorian Comptroller General Carlos Ramón Polit Faggioni for money laundering in Miami.
Involving the channelling of hundreds of millions of dollars – an estimated $300 million in total – they are investigating whether any of these alleged operations could have resulted in crimes such as money laundering or fraud that may fall under U.S. jurisdiction.
La Nación report that one of those meetings was with businessman Guillermo Tofoni, which lasted three hours.
The FBI are reportedly also seeking witnesses who may hold direct knowledge of any involvements between the AFA during Tapia and Pablo Toviggino’s tenure at the forefront of the footballing federation.
The FBI are also reportedly weighing up the decision of whether to speak with former officials from President Javier Milei’s government.
This is because they may have had access to sensitive AFA information while overseeing operations with the company TourProdEnter LLC, owned by theater producer Javier Faroni, during the period allegedly under investigation.
This LLC served as a collection agent for the contracts that the AFA signed with sponsors and other third party companies.
According to documentation obtained and intricately analyzed by the Argentine newspaper, Faroni and his wife Erica Gillette are alleged to have moved hundreds of millions of dollars through bank accounts opened in five of the United States’ financial entities.
This is said to include Citibank, Synovus, Bank of America, JP Morgan and PNC Bank.
The documents have shown that TourProdEnter LLC managed at least $260 million in revenue from the AFA, though only a small portion of these can be directly linked to the operating expenses during Tapia’s reign that stems back to 2017.
Another $57 million has reportedly been distributed out to various people and companies, though the documentation doesn’t outline any specific – nor valid – reason as to why they paid out that money.
In fact, some of these wire transfers appear to have to be sent to companies that were controlled by individuals who have received social welfare benefits, and have resided in either Buenos Aires or Bariloche.
Other financial transfers made have been linked directly to Tovigginio and his family, as well as to an alleged ‘spiritual guide’ of the Argentine national team.
This isn’t the first occasion in which the AFA have been under investigation by the U.S.
Back in September 2024, the Ministry of Security, then led by Patricia Bullrich, submitted information to U.S. officials about the potential risk areas linked to the AFA, though at the time, the FBI concluded that there was no sufficient grounds to open a criminal investigation in the States.
Now, though, that appears to have changed, with the investigation currently being conducted set to be used to determine whether a formal criminal investigation should take place under U.S. jurisdiction.
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