Argentina Gold Loss of US$1 Billion Lands in Court
ARGENTINA · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —The country Argentina, led by libertarian President Javier Milei, runs a US$20 billion IMF programme and leans on central bank reserves to pay its dollar debts.
- —What happened Lawyer Gregorio Dalbón filed a criminal complaint against Economy Minister Luis Caputo and central bank chief Santiago Bausili, made public on Friday 9 October.
- —The money The state auditor puts the Argentina gold loss at US$1.023 billion in 2025, from gold-backed options and their premiums.
- —The court The case went to federal judge Ariel Lijo, with federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita.
- —The bank’s answer The central bank says its gold, hedges included, earned a net US$2.505 billion in 2025 and calls the audit political.
- —What it means for you Gross reserves of US$49.1 billion on 7 October are the buffer behind Argentina’s IMF deal and its foreign debt payments.
- —Still open No one has been charged; Dalbón plans to expand the complaint on Tuesday 13 October.
An Argentina gold loss of US$1.023 billion is now in the hands of a federal court. Lawyer Gregorio Dalbón has filed a criminal complaint against Economy Minister Luis Caputo and central bank president Santiago Bausili.
The complaint, made public on Friday 9 October, rests on a state audit of the central bank’s 2025 gold hedges. For US investors, it puts a spotlight on the reserves that stand behind Argentina’s US$20 billion IMF programme.
What the Complaint Asks the Court
Dalbón is a lawyer who has represented Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015. He filed the complaint on Friday 9 October, according to El Destape, a Buenos Aires news site.
Dalbón’s complaint also names Juan Curutchet, a central bank board member who heads its bank supervision arm. La Política Online, another Buenos Aires news site, reported the filing that afternoon.
The case was assigned to federal judge Ariel Lijo, with federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita taking part. In Argentina, a criminal complaint asks the courts to investigate; it is not a charge.
Dalbón wants the court to establish who decided, authorised and designed the operations behind the Argentina gold loss, and with which counterparties. He also asks what risks were taken, what controls existed and whether the state lost money.
“1.023 billion dollars is not an accounting entry,” Dalbón wrote, according to La Política Online. “They are the Republic’s resources and demand an explanation equal to such a figure.”
None of the three officials has been charged with any crime, and all are presumed innocent.
What the State Auditor Found
The Argentina gold loss figure comes from the National Audit Office (Auditoría General de la Nación, AGN), Congress’s auditor of the public sector. It examined the central bank’s 2025 financial statements.
The AGN found that derivatives settled in dollars, backed by part of the bank’s physical gold, lost US$960.2 million. Option premiums cost another US$62.8 million, for a total of US$1.023 billion.
Juan Manuel Olmos, the AGN’s president, said the central bank “erred in the calculation”. He added that no loss of this size had appeared since the AGN began auditing the bank, according to Perfil, a Buenos Aires newspaper.
According to La Política Online, the auditor backed the procedure behind the gold operations but not their result. A separate AGN audit of the physical gold and its transfer abroad is still under way, Perfil reported.
The Central Bank Says the Hedges Worked
The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) rejected the auditor’s reading on Thursday 8 October. It said its gold position, metal and hedges together, produced a net gain of US$2.505 billion in 2025.
The bank said it hedges 100% of its gold against a sharp price fall and has done so since 2007. When gold rises, as in 2025, the insurance loses money while the metal gains.
It also noted that the AGN approved its 2025 accounts, which it called a record result. It accused the AGN’s leadership of trying to discredit the bank “for purely political purposes”.
“A financial operation cannot be a hedge and speculative at the same time,” the statement said. The audit was detailed on 9 October in Argentina Audit Finds US$1 Billion Loss on Gold Hedges.
A Second Case Over Gold Sent Abroad
The gold already features in another complaint. In September, Peronist senators Martín Soria, Juliana Di Tullio and María Florencia López widened a case opened on 28 April 2026.
The Peronists, founded by former president Juan Perón, are Argentina’s main opposition movement. Their complaint accuses Milei, Caputo and Bausili of abuse of authority, breach of official duties and embezzling public funds.
Perfil reported that Bausili first placed the gold moved abroad in Switzerland, then in London. The senators dispute his account.
What It Means for You
The BCRA held US$49.1 billion in gross reserves on Wednesday 7 October, its latest official figure. The Argentina gold loss equals about 2% of that sum.
Those reserves matter to Washington and Wall Street. The IMF approved a 48-month, US$20 billion loan for Argentina in April 2025, with US$12 billion paid out at once.
The BCRA also has a US$20 billion exchange stabilisation agreement with the US Treasury, announced on 20 October 2025. The bank said on 9 January 2026 that it had settled, in December, the swaps made under it in late 2025.
For holders of Argentine bonds, the real question is how openly the central bank reports deals involving its gold. A complaint is not a finding of wrongdoing and freezes no assets.
What Is Not Known
Neither the BCRA nor the AGN has publicly named the counterparties behind the Argentina gold loss. Dalbón has asked the court to establish who they were.
The bank has not shown how it reached its US$2.505 billion net result.
How Caputo, Bausili and Curutchet will answer the complaint is not known. The AGN’s audit of the gold transfer abroad has not been published.
It is also unknown whether prosecutor Pollicita will open a formal investigation. Dalbón says he will add new documents on Tuesday 13 October, ask for suspects to be questioned and seek urgent steps to preserve evidence.
More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who filed the complaint over Argentina’s gold loss?
Lawyer Gregorio Dalbón filed it, naming Economy Minister Luis Caputo, central bank president Santiago Bausili and bank director Juan Curutchet. It was made public on Friday 9 October 2026.
How much did Argentina’s central bank lose on gold?
The National Audit Office puts the Argentina gold loss at US$1.023 billion in 2025, from gold-backed options and their premiums. The central bank says its overall gold position still gained a net US$2.505 billion.
Has anyone been charged?
No. A criminal complaint in Argentina asks the courts to investigate, and the officials named are presumed innocent. Federal judge Ariel Lijo and prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita have the case.
Does the case affect Argentina’s IMF programme or US support?
Not so far. The Argentina gold loss equals about 2% of the US$49.1 billion in gross reserves, which back a US$20 billion IMF programme. The central bank says it settled its US Treasury swaps in December 2025.
Sources: Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA), statement on its 2025 gold position, 8 October 2026; BCRA, statement on settling operations with the US Treasury, 9 January 2026; BCRA, international reserves series (variable 1), 7 October 2026; BCRA, Superintendency of Financial and Exchange Entities, 6 January 2026; International Monetary Fund, Executive Board approves 48-month US$20 billion arrangement for Argentina, 12 April 2025; La Política Online, Denuncian a Caputo y Bausili por las operaciones con el oro del Central, 9 October 2026; El Destape, Denunciaron penalmente a Caputo y Bausili por la timba con el oro que reveló la AGN, 9 October 2026; Perfil, Denuncian a Caputo y a Bausili ante la Justicia por el oro perdido, 10 October 2026; Perfil, Senadores del PJ ampliaron la denuncia penal por el destino de los lingotes de oro, 15 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief