Nameless donors, outdated books, and unexplained loans: IGJ summons Faro Foundation

Argentina's General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ) has given the Faro Foundation ten days to clarify its financial opacity, demanding the identification of donors who contributed nearly $5 billion in 2024. The IGJ, now under the influence of Karina Milei, is scrutinizing the funding of the libertarian think tank, which is closely aligned with Santiago Caputo's faction.

The demand highlights a potential tension between factions within the ruling party, centered on an entity that has rapidly become the largest private political financing machine in the libertarian space. Faro reported $4.957 billion in revenue for 2024 and spent over $1 billion on political advertising in the following year, yet its funding sources remain undisclosed. The foundation submitted its balance sheet to the IGJ with an eleven-month delay, failing to identify any donors, presenting outdated accounting books, and leaving four financial discrepancies unexplained, according to La Nación.

The entity emerged from the ashes of Fundación Valorar, an organization focused on social vulnerability that declared a net worth of $12 million and revenues of $49 million in 2023. However, after Agustín Laje and Francisco Caputo, brother of "the Kremlin's Magician," took over, the foundation's income multiplied 78 times and its net worth grew 356 times, exceeding $4.3 billion, as reported by Chequeado and verified by La Nación.

This transformation began between April and May 2024, shortly after Javier Milei assumed the presidency. The entire board of Fundación Valorar resigned, and Laje and Francisco Caputo assumed control. In October 2024, the IGJ approved the name change and relocation of the foundation. Despite the changes, its statutory objective remains theoretically focused on "addressing the reality of people and communities in contexts of inequality."

Under its new name, the foundation organized three fundraising dinners in November 2024 and August and December 2025 at the Puerto Madero Yacht Club, with President Milei as the main speaker at all three events. Attendees included prominent business figures from companies like Edenor, Corporación América, Globant, Pan American Energy, Pampa Energía, Swiss Medical, and representatives from Vista Oil & Gas, TotalEnergies, and Techint. The reported cost per seat was US$25,000.