A journalistic investigation based on confidential bank records and court documents from Argentina and the United States has exposed a complex fund management network of the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
The entity, chaired by Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, authorized the American company TourProdEnter LLC to collect its global income, accumulating more than 260 million dollars in the last four years. However, A substantial part of these resources would have been diverted to “vehicle” companies and luxury expenses, according to the Argentine newspaper La Nación.
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The firm TourProdEnter LLC, incorporated in Florida in August 2021, obtained the role of “exclusive commercial agent for foreigners” of the AFA just four months later. The company is managed by Erica Gillette, partner of theater producer Javier Faroni, a personal friend of Tapia and former director of Aerolíneas Argentinas during the government of Alberto Fernández.
Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA Photo:AFP
Under this contract, the firm was in charge of collecting income from sponsors (such as Adidas), TV rights and friendly matches, and then remitting surpluses to the AFA after charging a commission. According to records from banks such as Bank of America, Synovus, Citibank and JP Morgan, the company’s account received:
At least 42 million dollars would have been diverted
The most critical point of the investigation indicates that at least US$42 million were transferred to four limited liability companies (LLC) in Florida: Soagu Services, Marmasch, Velp and Velpasalt. These firms do not have employees or declared commercial activity, and they share addresses in virtual offices in Miami.
The owners of these companies present socioeconomic profiles that do not match the volume of money handled: Javier Alejandro Ojeda Jara is an employee of a pharmacy in Bariloche, with financial debts and a beneficiary of social housing. Mariela Marisa Schmalz works in a decoration store in Bariloche, with a history of executive lawsuits and bank debts, and Roberto Salice is a tour operator, but declared bankruptcy in 2019 under presumption of fraud.
Despite their personal financial situations, their companies in the United States received constant five- and six-figure transfers from AFA funds.
In addition to the transfers to the LLCs, the investigation detected that US$109.9 million were sent to a securities agent in Uruguay (Adcap). From there, the funds passed through regulated vehicles in the British Virgin Islands before partially returning to AFA accounts in Argentina, an operation that, according to the consultancy, was used to circumvent the exchange rate.
At the same time, the accounts analyzed show that tens of millions of dollars were spent on luxury expenses including flights on private planes and yachts, summer residences, horseback riding activities, VIP theater tickets and hairdressing services.
Although Tapia and his right-hand man, Pablo Toviggino, do not appear nominally in the transfers, many of these consumptions coincide chronologically with official activities of the Argentine National Team. It was also detected that Toviggino’s wife and a company linked to the AFA treasurer were recipients of funds.
Chiqui Tapia, president of the AFA. Photo:EFE
Despite the magnitude of the operation, TourProdEnter LLC only appears once in the official AFA balance sheets presented to the General Inspection of Justice (IGJ), appearing only as a debtor. Neither Claudio Tapia nor those responsible for the company in Florida agreed to provide detailed explanations about the final destination of the funds in response to the press requests.
This Monday, La Nación published a second report, in which, based on confidential bank records from the United States, obtained through a judicial “discovery” process, it revealed that TourProdenter LLC, the company authorized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to manage its global income, diverted at least US$483,604 to companies linked to Pablo Toviggino, treasurer of the institution.
The transfers were made between the end of 2023 and July 2025 from accounts at Bank of America and Citibank. The maneuver, which is already being investigated by the Argentine Justice, exposes an alleged scheme of triangulation of funds that involves direct relatives, former collaborators and the current partner of the leader, in a context of lack of transparency about the destination of the millionaire income of the national team.
The bank documentation also records a transfer of $40,000 made on December 30, 2024 in the name of María Florencia Sartirana, Toviggino’s current partner and former AFA Finance Manager until 2022.
The AFA spoke out in a statement
Headquarters of the Argentine Football Association. Photo:AFP
The entity spoke out this Monday through a press release, in which it rejects what it describes as a “defamation campaign directed against the Institution itself, its President Claudio Tapia and its Treasurer Pablo Toviggino.”
According to the AFA, the contractual relationship with Tour ProDenter LLC “has been duly submitted to the analysis of different Courts, both in the Argentine Republic and in the United States, without any irregularity having been detected.”
The statement assured that the investigation in the state of Florida did not prosper. “Said judicial process was recently rejected in all its parts and archived, once again confirming the legality and legitimacy of the existing commercial relationship between the AFA and TourProdenter LLC.”
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This content was rewritten with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on information from La Nación (Argentina-GDA) and the Argentine Football Association. It was reviewed by a journalist.
