Argentina more Corrupt with Milei - In Milei's second year, Argentina worsened its rating in the world ranking that measures corruption

[CraigM]

What is the significance of Carlos Frugoni resigning? It made my news feed this morning

 

[Betsy Ross]

What is the significance of Carlos Frugoni resigning? It made my news feed this morning

He was a Minister working under Caputo. Now with all of the investigating, they are finding many of these government officials under Milei have all sorts of real estate that they never declared. Frugoni had 7 apartments in Miami that he "forgot" to declare. He had to resign.

In Argentina there is a wealth tax and you have to declare all your assets and pay an annual tax on all of the assets. So they found at least 7 apartments in Florida plus a few companies. He didn't declare them.

The same thing happened to Adorni. They found a few properties that he never declared.

 

[import export]

He was a Minister working under Caputo. Now with all of the investigating, they are finding many of these government officials under Milei have all sorts of real estate that they never declared. Frugoni had 7 apartments in Miami that he "forgot" to declare. He had to resign.

In Argentina there is a wealth tax and you have to declare all your assets and pay an annual tax on all of the assets. So they found at least 7 apartments in Florida plus a few companies. He didn't declare them.

The same thing happened to Adorni. They found a few properties that he never declared.

Betsy is correct. @CraigM it probably wouldn't be too big of a deal but Adorni for years had a holy attitude and always cried against corruption. That is why they are so hot on his trail. Now it turns out he has all kinds of properties. And he won't quit. He made up many fake stories how he could afford these properties.

Basically he is doing the same thing Cristina did to stack up her 125 properties. This is how they do it. Now it turns out the head of the IRS here in Argentina also has a lot of undeclared properties too. Welcome to Argentina.

 

[oil rush]

Betsy is correct. @CraigM it probably wouldn't be too big of a deal but Adorni for years had a holy attitude and always cried against corruption. That is why they are so hot on his trail. Now it turns out he has all kinds of properties. And he won't quit. He made up many fake stories how he could afford these properties.

Basically he is doing the same thing Cristina did to stack up her 125 properties. This is how they do it. Now it turns out the head of the IRS here in Argentina also has a lot of undeclared properties too. Welcome to Argentina.

It is worse for Adorni. At least Frugoni it sounds like the properties were already purchased when he accepted. Adorni has been stacking up properties now after Milei started and he didn't declare them. Probably all of these politicians have undeclared properties. Adorni should really quit but he won't go and he probably knows too many secrets. Karina Milei has made a mess of things. Milei is too weak to fire her.

Now they are getting people to the left in LLA. What a waste. So much potential squandered.

 

[Finance Prof]

What I can't figure out is why would you go into public office or hold a position of power if you were doing this???

It makes no sense to me.

Is there any punishment like jail time or penalties when people do this?

I just don't understand it. Didn't they do an amnesty recently? Why not declare this during the amnesties?

I've never heard of anyone going to jail for tax evasion here. I would assume that these people getting caught will have to pay huge fines and penalties. And also back taxes. This is why so many hold cash instead of anything else. There is a wealth tax you have to pay in Argentina on any assets you own around the world including cash!

No one goes to jail for evading taxes. Look at Cristina. She stole billions and isn't in jail.

 

[Finance Prof]

Betsy is correct. @CraigM it probably wouldn't be too big of a deal but Adorni for years had a holy attitude and always cried against corruption. That is why they are so hot on his trail. Now it turns out he has all kinds of properties. And he won't quit. He made up many fake stories how he could afford these properties.

Basically he is doing the same thing Cristina did to stack up her 125 properties. This is how they do it. Now it turns out the head of the IRS here in Argentina also has a lot of undeclared properties too. Welcome to Argentina.

Adorni has a big mouth. If he didn't just be humble. He declared in his last tax returns that he made almost nothing. He starts working for Milei and then starts flying private jets, taking his family to Aruba on expensive trips, buying properties all over. These people can't help themselves.

Very stupid. But this is Argentina. Everyone knows Adorni is doing the same thing Cristina did.

 

[Edmonton]

What is the significance of Carlos Frugoni resigning? It made my news feed this morning

The dominos are starting to fall. It is only a matter of time before Adorni has to resign. He did the same thing or worse. Craig it is in the press because that official had to quit for illegally having properties he didn't declare. Adorni did the same thing. Now Milei is changing it so the deadline to report properties is July now. They keep making things more corrupt.

Adorni was buying suits on a layaway before working with Milei.

 

[Avocado]

What is the significance of Carlos Frugoni resigning? It made my news feed this morning

Craig you will see daily all of the corruption of Milei and his people. Did you see while elderly and senior citizens and disabled are struggling Milei gives his team a 100% salary increase?

Por un decreto de Milei, Adorni y el resto de los ministros duplicaron sus sueldos

El dato surge del informe oficial al que se accedió PERFIL mediante un pedido de Acceso a la Información Pública. A partir de enero de 2026 los funcionaron pasaron a ganar $7.272.091 (antes eran $3.500.000). El presidente y la vice, Victoria Villarruel, siguen con sus sueldos congelados.

www.perfil.com

 

[CraigM]

Craig you will see daily all of the corruption of Milei and his people. Did you see while elderly and senior citizens and disabled are struggling Milei gives his team a 100% salary increase?

Yes. I was just curious if a local perspective would tell me something unique because the article I read was very basic and Claude didn't add much to it.

 

[Canada Goose]

Yes. I was just curious if a local perspective would tell me something unique because the article I read was very basic and Claude didn't add much to it.

I just don't know how all of this is sustainable? My friends are there now from Toronto and they say it is more expensive than Toronto to go out to eat and stuff. Not sure how a local can afford it if people from Canada say it's more expensive and we make a lot more.

 

[Peabody]

I just don't know how all of this is sustainable? My friends are there now from Toronto and they say it is more expensive than Toronto to go out to eat and stuff. Not sure how a local can afford it if people from Canada say it's more expensive and we make a lot more.

It's true. Prices have really become unbearable at some places. Prices seem like they have peaked at some places. Consumption is falling.

I don't understand keeping Adorni in. They keep finding more stuff on him. They found that Adorni hired 248 people (many of his friends). 52 advisors, 14 consultants and 30 billion pesos from the State. No wonder he is flying around in private jets now.

 

[ElQueso]

It's true. Prices have really become unbearable at some places. Prices seem like they have peaked at some places. Consumption is falling.

I don't understand keeping Adorni in. They keep finding more stuff on him. They found that Adorni hired 248 people (many of his friends). 52 advisors, 14 consultants and 30 billion pesos from the State. No wonder he is flying around in private jets now.

I saw that on the news. For F*cks sake. I would guess these "friends/consultants" have to kick back half their salary to him. This is the Argentine way.

Milei seems to have gone off the deep end. I don't understand any other explanation. Shutting off the Press completely. It's clear to me he is an advanced mental state. He is becoming a fascist dictator and in his last final stages. Now he is even saying in interviews that he can go back to the private sector.

From what I see the guy has never been successful in the private sector.

 

[ben]

So much potential squandered.

Agree. But it seems like they are just imploding now. Milei is in interviews saying if he gets kicked out he will just go to the private sector. Even Caputo is in interviews saying he did all he could do. Seems like they are giving up. No one likes Karina and she seems like she is running the show. There is NO shot for recovery for Adorni and now head of ARCA got busted with properties in Miami undeclared. What a sh*t show.

 

[CraigM]

I just don't know how all of this is sustainable? My friends are there now from Toronto and they say it is more expensive than Toronto to go out to eat and stuff. Not sure how a local can afford it if people from Canada say it's more expensive and we make a lot more.

Crazy. I was amazed at how consumer goods were so absurdly expensive there. Cheap stuff like ubers made sense because it's a third-world economy, but consumer prices really did my head in. It's ridiculous in this global economy that Argentines have to pay Soviet black market prices for consumer goods. That kind of disfunction can only be created through decades of layering distortion upon distortion on markets until nothing makes sense anymore.

You would think that online retailing would have taken a sledgehammer to a market like Argentina, but its biggest impact by far was on the most efficient markets like the US.

 

[Uncle Wong]

I just don't know how all of this is sustainable? My friends are there now from Toronto and they say it is more expensive than Toronto to go out to eat and stuff. Not sure how a local can afford it if people from Canada say it's more expensive and we make a lot more.

I don't think it's sustainable. In speaking to some people that know Argentina well like @BuySellBA, they have told me a while now that this isn't sustainable. Almost everything they told me would happen has happened. Especially on the real estate side.

I can't believe how expensive things are.

Crazy. I was amazed at how consumer goods were so absurdly expensive there. Cheap stuff like ubers made sense because it's a third-world economy, but consumer prices really did my head in. It's ridiculous in this global economy that Argentines have to pay Soviet black market prices for consumer goods. That kind of disfunction can only be created through decades of layering distortion upon distortion on markets until nothing makes sense anymore.

You would think that online retailing would have taken a sledgehammer to a market like Argentina, but its biggest impact by far was on the most efficient markets like the US.

Yes! I went to the store my last visit and got some shaving cream, razors and shampoo, toothbrush and mouthwash and stuff I forgot to pack. It was more than double the price I would pay in the US. Some simple stuff. I'm not talking about anything fancy either All brands were like that! I don't know how people do it. It was expensive for me!

I saw this posted yesterday. Zara is a cheap brand. Like meh quality and look at this jacket in BA for $450 US!

 

[Betsy Ross]

Crazy. I was amazed at how consumer goods were so absurdly expensive there. Cheap stuff like ubers made sense because it's a third-world economy, but consumer prices really did my head in. It's ridiculous in this global economy that Argentines have to pay Soviet black market prices for consumer goods. That kind of disfunction can only be created through decades of layering distortion upon distortion on markets until nothing makes sense anymore.

You would think that online retailing would have taken a sledgehammer to a market like Argentina, but its biggest impact by far was on the most efficient markets like the US.

People are moving to online vs stores and they are cheaper on ML but it just seems like less and less stuff is made in Argentina now. More and more companies are shutting down. I guess we will move to importing everything which won't be cheap either because of all the taxes and fees. Not sure what the solution is but don't think this is it. I'm to the point almost none of my local friends want to go out to eat anymore. We had 3 time a week coffees/lunches that turned into 2 times a week to 1 time a week to once every 2 weeks to once every month now.

 

[CraigM]

People are moving to online vs stores and they are cheaper on ML but it just seems like less and less stuff is made in Argentina now. More and more companies are shutting down. I guess we will move to importing everything which won't be cheap either because of all the taxes and fees. Not sure what the solution is but don't think this is it. I'm to the point almost none of my local friends want to go out to eat anymore. We had 3 time a week coffees/lunches that turned into 2 times a week to 1 time a week to once every 2 weeks to once every month now.

I'm really sorry to hear that Betsy. I would imagine on of the great pleasures of living in BA is going out with friends in that wonderful city. I hope you all get back to that place soon.

 

[CraigM]

Yes! I went to the store my last visit and got some shaving cream, razors and shampoo, toothbrush and mouthwash and stuff I forgot to pack. It was more than double the price I would pay in the US. Some simple stuff. I'm not talking about anything fancy either All brands were like that! I don't know how people do it. It was expensive for me!

C'mon Uncle Wong, we all know you bought condoms too 🙂

 

[Wally]

People are moving to online vs stores and they are cheaper on ML but it just seems like less and less stuff is made in Argentina now. More and more companies are shutting down. I guess we will move to importing everything which won't be cheap either because of all the taxes and fees. Not sure what the solution is but don't think this is it. I'm to the point almost none of my local friends want to go out to eat anymore. We had 3 time a week coffees/lunches that turned into 2 times a week to 1 time a week to once every 2 weeks to once every month now.

This is very true. One of the places most people can cut back is dining out. That has become a luxury for many. We are fortunate that we are ok but we have also cut back from dining out. My wife works and is very busy and we do have someone that cooks for us but as a family we went out several times a week. I went out to lunch or drinks with my friends before often. But now I do not. Even if I can afford it I am respectful of their situation. For a while I was paying but I don't want to get into that habit of paying each time and they aren't in the situation to go. So it's uncomfortable for everyone.

The problem of not much getting made here in Argentina is we get dependent on getting shipped here and those products have to get moved and shipped around mostly by trucks. The logistics here are very inefficient with our truck dominated transportation system.

 

[Uncle Wong]

C'mon Uncle Wong, we all know you bought condoms too 🙂

You know me too well Craig. Yes, condoms too. They are expensive here. Now it is a bit sad but I load up my suitcase with all the stuff I will need on my trip. Toiletries for the bathroom, toothpaste, and of course condoms! I really struggle to understand how people make it here.

I say that all the time but these prices are expensive for me. I feel guilty sometimes when I am buying stuff there. People standing outside of the supermarket begging for food seems to be more each time.