Argentina’s central bank faces a US$1.023 billion question in federal court over gold-linked derivatives. Lawyer Gregorio Dalbón filed a criminal complaint against Economy Minister Luis Caputo, central bank president Santiago Bausili and board member Juan Curutchet; it became public on Friday 9 October 2026. Federal judge Ariel Lijo drew the case, and federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita is taking part. No one has been charged. The officials named remain presumed innocent.
The Auditor's Numbers
The complaint relies on findings from the National Audit Office (Auditoría General de la Nación, AGN), Congress’s public-sector auditor. Reviewing the central bank’s 2025 financial statements, the AGN found that dollar-settled derivatives backed by part of the bank’s physical gold lost US$960.2 million. Option premiums added US$62.8 million in costs. Together, they total US$1.023 billion.
AGN president Juan Manuel Olmos said the central bank “erred in the calculation” and that the AGN had not recorded a loss of that size since it began auditing the bank, Perfil reported. La Política Online reported that the auditor approved the procedure behind the gold operations, but not their result. A separate AGN audit of the physical gold and its transfer abroad continues.
Dalbón, who has represented Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president from 2007 to 2015, wants the court to establish who decided, authorized and designed the operations, which counterparties took part, what risks officials accepted, what controls existed and whether the state lost money. “1.023 billion dollars is not an accounting entry,” he wrote, according to La Política Online. “They are the Republic’s resources and demand an explanation equal to such a figure.”
The Central Bank Pushes Back
The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) rejected the auditor’s reading on Thursday 8 October. The bank said its gold and hedges together produced a net gain of US$2.505 billion in 2025. It has hedged 100% of its gold against a sharp price fall since 2007. When gold rises, as it did in 2025, the insurance loses money while the metal gains.
The BCRA noted that the AGN approved its 2025 accounts, which the bank called a record result. It accused the AGN’s leadership of trying to discredit it “for purely political purposes.” The bank also drew a line on terminology: “A financial operation cannot be a hedge and speculative at the same time.”
There’s a gap, though. The bank hasn’t shown how it calculated the US$2.505 billion net figure. Neither the BCRA nor the AGN has publicly identified the counterparties behind the gold operations.
A Second Case and the Opposition
The gold faces a separate court case, too. In September 2026, Peronist senators Martín Soria, Juliana Di Tullio and María Florencia López widened a case opened on 28 April 2026. Founded by former president Juan Perón, the Peronists are Argentina’s main opposition movement. Their complaint accuses President Javier Milei, Caputo and Bausili of abuse of authority, breach of official duties and embezzlement of public funds. Perfil reported that Bausili first placed gold moved abroad in Switzerland and later in London; the senators dispute his account.
What’s at Stake for Reserves
The BCRA reported gross reserves of US$49.1 billion on Wednesday 7 October. Those reserves underpin Argentina’s US$20 billion IMF programme and foreign debt payments. In April 2025, the IMF approved a 48-month, US$20 billion loan and paid out US$12 billion at once. The BCRA also holds a US$20 billion exchange stabilisation agreement with the U.S. Treasury, announced on 20 October 2025. On 9 January 2026, the bank said it had settled in December the swaps made under that agreement in late 2025.
A complaint isn’t a finding of wrongdoing, and it freezes no assets. Dalbón said he’d add documents on Tuesday 13 October, ask for suspects to be questioned and seek urgent steps to preserve evidence. Whether Pollicita opens a formal investigation, and how Caputo, Bausili and Curutchet respond, remains unknown. The AGN’s audit of the gold transfer abroad also remains unpublished.
Why This Matters:
Argentina’s reserves carry real weight. They back an IMF programme and foreign debt payments, and anchor investor confidence in a government that has staked its credibility on fiscal discipline. A dispute over whether the central bank lost US$1.023 billion or gained US$2.505 billion goes to the heart of that credibility. Markets tend to reward transparency, and the BCRA hasn’t yet shown its math. Disclosing the counterparties, controls and calculation would do more to settle the question than any press statement. Meanwhile, opponents can use the case as a political weapon, making clear public accounting more urgent, not less. Courts should weigh evidence, not headlines. Until the audit of the gold transfer is published, the full picture stays incomplete.