MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina's Cabinet Chief Adorni bought $230,000 apartment that his declared income cannot explain

The property, located on Miró street in one of the neighborhood's most sought-after areas, was financed almost entirely through a $200,000 non-bank mortgage provided by the sellers themselves

Argentina's Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni purchased a nearly 200-square-meter apartment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito in November 2025 for $230,000, according to records from the National Property Registry. The financing behind the transaction does not align with the assets Adorni declared before the Anti-Corruption Office, deepening a credibility crisis that has trailed the official for weeks.

The property, located on Miró street in one of the neighborhood's most sought-after areas, was financed almost entirely through a $200,000 non-bank mortgage provided by the sellers themselves: Beatriz Viegas, a 72-year-old retiree, and Claudia Sbabo. Both are listed as equal creditors on the loan, which covered 87% of the total price. The two women told La Nación they do not know the official.

The purchase was completed just 14 days after Adorni was appointed Cabinet Chief. That same month, his wife, Julieta Bettina Angeletti, acquired a property at the Indio Cuá Golf Club gated community in Exaltación de la Cruz, Buenos Aires province. Neither transaction appeared in the official's most recent sworn asset declaration, which also omitted the sale of his previous home in the Parque Chacabuco neighborhood.

Lawmaker Marcela Pagano, who filed the original complaint, said Adorni's net worth had grown by 500% in a single fiscal period. Among the discrepancies she identified were undisclosed financial assets and overseas deposits exceeding 16 million pesos, along with $24,500 in cash attributed to family loans.

Federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita formally charged Adorni on March 27 with alleged illicit enrichment and requested that Judge Ariel Lijo authorize 12 evidentiary measures, including requests to property registries, vehicle records, and banks. The prosecution argued there are “sufficient grounds to advance the case and clarify the official's asset composition,” according to the case file accessed by EFE.

The notary who certified the Caballito transaction has been summoned to testify on April 8. Adorni's inner circle maintains there is no wrongdoing. The Cabinet Chief has said his assets are the product of 25 years of private-sector work and that his documentation is available to the courts, but he has avoided giving detailed public explanations. “What is not declared is because the sworn statement has not expired,” was his only response to reporters at the Casa Rosada.

Judge Lijo has not yet ruled on the measures requested by the prosecution.