Federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita formally opened a criminal investigation Friday into Claudio "Chiqui" Tapia, president of the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA), on suspicion of illicit enrichment tied to his public position as head of the Coordinación Ecológica Área Metropolitana Sociedad del Estado (CEAMSE).
Pollicita requested 15 investigative measures from federal judge Ariel Lijo to examine Tapia's patrimony during the period under investigation. The measures include lifting banking, fiscal, and securities secrecy protections; obtaining his sworn tax declarations as a public official; and gathering reports on his assets from various government agencies.
The investigation centers on reconstructing Tapia's economic and financial evolution to determine whether correspondence exists between his declared income and the growth of his patrimony. Judicial sources said the probe encompasses information about his real estate holdings, bank accounts, corporate participations, and possible transactions conducted abroad, as well as data related to his consumption levels.
Once the information is collected, Pollicita indicated that a comprehensive patrimonial, economic, and financial report should be prepared through a specialized institution to reach conclusions that would allow, if warranted, the formulation of charges based on evidence gathered.
The case was assigned to federal judge Ariel Lijo and the Federal Prosecutor's Office led by Pollicita following a decision this week by the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires resolving a jurisdictional conflict among different courts. Tapia was initially denounced in April on suspicion of illicit enrichment related to his role at CEAMSE.