Argentine police chases missing fortunes generated by Messi & co

The police in Argentina is currently investigating irregularities detected in the financial statements of the Argentine football federation (AFA). 

On March 16, 2026, the National Minister of Justice, Juan Bautista Mahiques, ordered the “intervention under supervisory oversight” of AFA, for a period of 180 business days. 

Two overseers — a certified accountant and a lawyer — have been appointed to obtain, collect, and review the documentation and information requested by the IGJ and not provided by AFA, as well as to verify the existence of other serious acts, such as violations of the law, the organization’s statute, or its regulations.

According to the National Minister of Justice, this decision follows AFA’s “repeated failure to provide concrete responses,” as well as its submission of “incomplete” filings containing arguments that “did not adequately address the requirements and, in several cases, were refuted by the IGJ.”

The IGJ (Inspección General de Justicia) is the body responsible for registering, overseeing, and regulating commercial companies, civil associations, and foundations based in the city of Buenos Aires.

The irregularities are, among others, linked to the company. TourProdEnter, which was hired by the AFA to collect its funds abroad totaling at least USD 276 million. 

While TourProdEnter kept 30% as stipulated in the contract, the remaining 70% never reached the AFA’s accounts nor was it used to cover its expenses. In addition, it carried out suspicious expenditures and transfers. 

The “International Commercial Agent Agreement” between AFA and TourProdEnter, signed on December 9, 2021, stipulates that the company owned by Javier Horacio Faroni and his wife, Erica Gabriela Gillette, gets exclusive commercial rights for AFA worldwide, except within Argentina.

Until the end of 2026, TourProdEnter has the right to promote “the execution of agreements regarding its brands, emblems, images, and other included rights” and, furthermore, the “organization of various sporting and commercial events.” 

In addition, TourProdEnter is authorized to “act as a collection agent for the sponsorship and/or endorsement contracts it generates, and in those cases where the AFA may require it” as well as to “promote the various AFA’s activities and/or its National Teams in order to obtain agreements that generate revenue for the AFA.” 

In other words, TourProdEnter’s revenue comes from three main sources: sponsors of the Argentine national team, income from friendly matches, and broadcasting rights.

Records from five U.S. banks

Since 2021, Faroni and Gillette have managed a fortune. 

According to confidential bank records from five U.S banks that were disclosed through intervention by the US courts and Play the Game had access to, TourProdEnter has collected more than USD 276 million on behalf of AFA since December 2021, meaning its commission (30%) would be around USD 82.8 million, as stipulated in the contract; plus 10% of all logistics expenses related to money transfers.

TourProdEnter should have transferred the remaining 70%, around USD 190 million, to AFA, or used those funds to cover the AFA’s activities and expenses, both within Argentina and abroad. However, only a negligible portion was used for that purpose.

The vast majority of the missing amount was instead spent on the purchase, maintenance, leasing, or use of private jets, exclusive vacation residences, luxury yachts, high-end vehicles and karting equipment, premium real estate, equestrian activities, hairdressing services, and even VIP theater tickets. And more than USD 60 million was transferred to shell companies, many of which were dissolved after receiving the funds.

Expenses spike after World Cup win

Documents seen by Play the Game shows that TourProdEnter authorized payments and carried out transfers totaling at least USD 16.6 million to cover luxury expenses using AFA funds, seemingly led by AFA president Claudio Fabián “Chiqui” Tapia with treasurer Pablo Ariel Toviggino as his right-hand man.

These expenditures showed notable spikes in the months following Argentina's victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, led by captain Lionel Andrés Messi.

For instance, TourProdEnter has spent at least USD 13.5 million on private jets, charter flights, and aviation-related expenses since December 2022, according to documents accessed by Play the Game. 

The company that received the most money was Insured Aircraft Title Service. This firm, which received USD 6 million, has been a leading provider of aircraft title services for over 60 years. 12 other aircraft-related companies have received over 4 million USD altogether.

The confidential bank records do not specify whether TourProdEnter, Faroni, Gillette, Tapia, or someone acting as a front man acquired an aircraft. 

However, transfers to some of these companies suggest that an aircraft was purchased or is currently owned, and that maintenance has been carried out and/or spare parts acquired.

As for the rental of private flights, the bank records do not reveal the identities of the passengers. Therefore, whether Tapia, Toviggino, other AFA executives, sports delegations (such as the Argentine national team), Faroni, Gillette, or others were on board, remains an open question.

Renting luxury yachts and villas

The bank records seen by Play the Game also expose that TourProdEnter used the accounts, in which AFA’s funds were accumulated, to pay, at least USD 2,046,813 in luxury yacht rentals through seven companies.

One of them, Michlmarine Ibiza SL, operating under the trade name of Michl Marine, is the official representative of the Mangusta brand in Spain and its “exclusive sales agent” for “Overmarine yachts.” 

According to its website, the company provides chartering, buying and selling, management, mooring, and exclusive, personalized concierge services for luxury yachts in Ibiza and Formentera, Spain.

Precisely in Ibiza, and also using AFA’s funds, TourProdEnter spent USD 76,443 on the rental of a luxury residence. The transfer was made to Patrice Anselin, who describes himself as the owner of Villa Pearl and Villa Romero on his LinkedIn profile. 

Both mansions can accommodate up to 12 guests and include a pool, breathtaking views, and five-star amenities comparable to luxury hotels, with optional services such as a private chef, waitstaff, massages, a car with or without a personal driver, bodyguards, and concierge service.

Real estate, theatres, and hair styling

Neither the AFA’s financial statements nor its bank records specify whether more than two million USD allocated by TourProdEnter to real estate, design, and decoration correspond to any property that may have been acquired by AFA, Tapia, Toviggino, Faroni, or Gillette, among other possibilities.

It is unclear whether AFA allocated the funds - or part of them - to its 500-square-meter office located on the eighth floor of the building at 128 NW 28th Street in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, which opened in December 2023. 

Alternatively, the funds may have been used for the AFA International Center—North Bay Village Community Center, currently under construction at 1851 Galleon Street, also in Miami.

As a curiosity, AFA funds were also used to cover the costs of events, productions, and other expenses related to the theater world. The transfers totaling USD 13,273 were distributed between two recipients: “French Theater” and “Dominique Christophe,” a production company in which someone — perhaps Javier Faroni, who is a theater producer — showed particular interest in the comedy “Deux hommes tout nus (Two naked men).”

Additionally, the bank records show that TourProdEnter spent USD 325,000 between 2023 and 2025 on transfers to two companies in Miami: “Rocco Donna Professional” and “Conair”, both luxury brands specializing in hair care and personal beauty products.

AFA treasurer Toviggino’s son took part in the FIA Karting Championship in Sweden in 2025. At a raid in a mansion related to Toviggino near Buenos Aires, two racing karts were found. Illustration from fiakarting.com

The treasurer’s pastimes

Some transfers coincide remarkably with the pastime interests of AFA treasurer Pablo Ariel Toviggino and his family.

The Brazilian company DTR MotorSport Comercio de Equipo received a total of USD 159,860 from TourProdEnter between December 2024 and August 2025. The company specializes in engine tuning, carburetors, and the sale of equipment for competitive karting.

Coincidence or not, one of Toviggino’s sons is a professional karting driver and represented the country, along with three other Argentine drivers, at the last world championship in Kristianstad, Sweden. During a raid on a mansion in Pilar, Buenos Aires province —suspected of belonging to Toviggino through front men — authorities found two racing karts.

More coincidences: a total of USD 84,800 was transferred from TourProdEnter ’s accounts to M&T Equestrian Services, an organization dedicated to the rehabilitation, training, retraining, and rehoming of thoroughbred horses. In addition, USD 47,135 was paid to European Horse Services, a company specialized in the international transport of horses.

One of Toviggino’s pastimes is horseback riding — more specifically, thoroughbreds and show-jumping horses. The AFA treasurer and Tapia’s right-hand man owns an equestrian facility and at least a dozen horses. Notably, his children train and compete in show-jumping tournaments.

This is only part of the at least USD 276 million that TourProdEnter collected on AFA's behalf. It was found that a minimum of USD 60 million was transferred to shell companies, many of which were dissolved after receiving the funds.

The trail of AFA's money shows that, after these transfers were made, the funds were withdrawn in cash in Buenos Aires by individuals closely linked to Toviggino.

AFA’s unbalanced books

In the financial statements that AFA submitted to the Inspección General de Justicia (IGJ), TourProdEnter appears only once, as a debtor, alongside 13 other companies that owe money to AFA, according to its latest financial statements from June 30, 2024. AFA has declined to submit the financial statements for 2025.

According to AFA’s financial statements for the fiscal period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, TourProdEnter owed AFA the equivalent of USD 14,289,040.

This amount represents only 5.18% of the USD 276 million collected by Faroni's company - far from the 70% that TourProdEnter was required to transfer to AFA. 

Further information from the US court's discovery process still remains to be revealed, which could raise the total amount owed to AFA to as much as USD 400 million.

In what appears to be a calculated move to avoid IGJ oversight, AFA’s latest financial statement, covering the period from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, was submitted to an office under the Ministry of Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires, rather than to the national IGJ.

The government of the province of Buenos Aires has refused to respond to requests from various media outlets, citizens and other institutions seeking access to the latest financial statements of this non-profit organization.

AFA refuses to explain

Hence, we do not know how the provincial authorities agree with the IGJ who identified potential “serious irregularities” in AFA’s financial statements for the period between 2017 and 2024, as the 2025 report was not submitted. The IGJ questioned more than USD 450 million in unaccounted funds. 

Among the anomalies, the IGJ found a lack of accounting documentation, diversion of funds to companies abroad, multi-million-dollar items without justification, and an allegedly false registered address, among other issues.

For example, in the 2023–2024 fiscal year, the IGJ is seeking clarification on “administration and management” expenses totaling USD 17,647,637, as well as on the category “FIFA and CONMEBOL contributions and subsidies,” amounting to USD 12,439,311, among other items.

The Argentine players were not the first to benefit from the World Cup earnings. It took a full year for AFA to pay the members of the national team their FIFA and CONMEBOL bonuses for winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 

The central question remains unanswered: If the AFA already has an internal structure to handle commercial rights, what specific service justifies hiring an external company that receives 30% of all international revenue?