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El Ciudadano

Original article: Denuncia penal golpea a Milei: acusan a sus ministros de desviar $400.000 millones destinados a rutas

A criminal complaint filed in the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 7 in Buenos Aires shakes the government of Javier Milei, directly accusing his key economic officials of the alleged misappropriation of public funds assigned for the maintenance of Argentina’s national road network.

The National Association of Professionals and Senior Personnel of National Roads initiated the legal action involving Economy Minister Luis Caputo; Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger; Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni—currently under investigation for alleged illicit enrichment— and the executive board of the decentralized agency.

The disputed amount totals 400 billion Argentine pesos (approximately US$30 million) derived from the Liquid Fuels Tax (ICL), whose collection by law must be dedicated exclusively to the development and maintenance of the country’s road infrastructure.

Retention of Allocations and Diversion of Road Funds

The mechanism of diversion, as detailed in the legal document accessed by Página/12, involved the systematic retention of specific allocations over the past fiscal years. Law 23.966 states that 28.58% of the ICL revenue must be automatically transferred to the Transport Infrastructure Trust for the Federal Road Network. However, it is alleged that the Palace of Treasury has withheld nearly 400 billion Argentine pesos, redirecting those resources towards the purchase of public securities and bonds to support the National Treasury, instead of investing them in road and highway maintenance.

“Minister Caputo has retained and diverted these funds sourced from the budget, the road trust (fuel tax and road fee), external financing lost due to lack of execution, towards the National Treasury disregarding their application but with serious and consistent indications that their use has not been contemplated in the general national budget (..)”, states the complaint.

The result of this maneuver is a critical situation for National Roads, as the agency reports an internal debt equivalent to 90% of its approved annual budget, which, according to the document presented by the cited media, jeopardizes “the operational, technical, and asset functioning of the agency.

Roads Abandoned Under Milei’s Administration

Under Milei’s administration, the primary road network of the neighboring country is in a state of abandonment, with no short- or medium-term investment plans. This depletion does not represent fiscal savings but a future cost that is much higher; it is expected that every peso not invested today in preventive maintenance will demand an amount between 4 and 10 times greater (measured in dollars) to reconstruct the pavement once it collapses.

Argentinian roads reflect persistent potholes, deformities due to heavy traffic, lack of horizontal markings, and impassable shoulders, and the absence of preventive maintenance multiplies the risk of severe traffic accidents. In addition, there is a total halt to strategic works, including those with international funding, due to non-compliance in payments to contracting companies.

The complaint also addresses the systematic depletion of the technical human capital of National Roads. According to the text submitted, Sturzenegger is alleged to have falsified management reports to justify institutional dismantling, altering operational metrics and inflating machinery indicators per employee to validate the downsizing of permanent staff.

Labor Terror to Silence Objections

The union reported the establishment of a “labor terror regime” overseen by the Human Resources Management, involving compulsory relocations, forced retirement intimations, and direct dismissals without the right to defense. The aim, they warn, is to suppress the field inspectors’ objections in response to the handover of public corridors to private operators under conditions unfavorable to the State.

“As road users, we will stand behind the complaint to ensure it advances,” assured Ricardo Lasca from the Argentine Center of Agricultural Engineers and coordinator of the National Committee for the Defense of Road Users, who is also advocating in Congress for a project to create a monitoring committee for the fuel tax.

La entrada Criminal Complaint Against Milei: Ministers Accused of Diverting $400 Billion Intended for Roads se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.