Argentina’s National Audit Office says gold-related operations at the central bank cost the country US$1.023 billion in 2025. A criminal complaint now asks a federal court to establish who authorized the deals and where the money went. It names Economy Minister Luis Caputo, central bank president Santiago Bausili and board member Juan Curutchet. No one has been charged; the officials remain presumed innocent.
The disputed account
The National Audit Office, Congress’s public-sector auditor, reviewed the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic’s 2025 financial statements. It attributed US$960.2 million in losses to dollar-settled derivatives backed by some of the bank’s physical gold, plus US$62.8 million in option premiums. The reported costs add up to US$1.023 billion.
AGN president Juan Manuel Olmos said the central bank “erred in the calculation” and that the AGN had never recorded a loss of that size since it began auditing the bank, Perfil reported. La Política Online reported that the auditor supported the procedure behind the gold operations, but not their result. The AGN is still auditing the physical gold and its transfer abroad, Perfil reported.
The BCRA rejected the auditor’s interpretation on Thursday 8 October. It said the combined value of its gold and hedges generated a net gain of US$2.505 billion in 2025. The bank hasn’t shown how it reached that figure.
The BCRA said 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 bank said. It also said the AGN approved its 2025 accounts, which it called a record result, and accused the AGN’s leadership of trying to discredit it “for purely political purposes.” “A financial operation cannot be a hedge and speculative at the same time,” the bank said.
Who controls the public assets
Lawyer Gregorio Dalbón filed the complaint. It became public on Friday 9 October and went to federal judge Ariel Lijo, with federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita taking part. Dalbón, who has represented Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, asks the court to establish who decided, authorized and designed the operations, which counterparties took part, what risks officials took, 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.” Neither the BCRA nor the AGN has publicly named the counterparties behind the gold operations.
A separate complaint concerns the gold’s transfer abroad. In September 2026, Peronist senators Martín Soria, Juliana Di Tullio and María Florencia López expanded a case opened on 28 April 2026. They accuse 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.
Reserves and the limits of the case
The BCRA reported gross reserves of US$49.1 billion on Wednesday 7 October, about 2% more than the US$1.023 billion loss the auditor cited. Argentina’s reserves underpin its US$20 billion IMF programme and foreign debt payments. The IMF approved a 48-month, US$20 billion loan in April 2025, and paid out US$12 billion at once. The BCRA also has a US$20 billion exchange stabilisation agreement with the U.S. Treasury, announced on 20 October 2025. The bank said on 9 January 2026 that it settled in December the swaps made under that agreement in late 2025.
A complaint does not establish wrongdoing and freezes no assets. The AGN’s audit of the gold transfer abroad hasn’t been published, and no one knows whether Pollicita will open a formal investigation or how the named officials will respond. Dalbón said he would add documents on Tuesday 13 October, ask for suspects to be questioned and seek urgent steps to preserve evidence.