On different social networks, for several days, different images have been circulating that question the past of Manuel Adorni, before assuming his duties in the national government led by Javier Milei. The digital photographs, which various users share, show the current Chief of Staff and main spokesperson for Casa Rosada in everyday situations, far from the glamor and sophistication of its heritage assets.
Even quite the opposite, one of the most shared portraits on social network X is that of Adorni himself cooking a humble barbecue. Much younger and far from his public duties, the then accountant was a prolific tweeter who got together with friends to have an impromptu barbecue. In the photo you can see the libertarian in espadrilles making a fire in a modest environment in some half-built fund.
Of course, it is not the only image that circulated in the digital universe. In another photograph, Adorni can be seen drinking some whiskeys with a friend. In the image he is seen smiling at the camera holding a Scotch from the Criadores label, one of the cheapest on the market, although it is the renowned bottle that celebrates the 50th anniversaries, the price was around lower than a Johnnie Walker Red Label.
This humble past of the Casa Rosada spokesperson confronts the current scandal that was consolidated from a series of investigations that put the evolution of his assets under suspicion, particularly in relation to real estate operations in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito and in a country in the Buenos Aires party of Exaltación de la Cruz, in a context where Justice is trying to determine if there was illicit enrichment and irregular maneuvers in the acquisition and improvement of assets.
In the case of country Indio Cúa Golf Clubhad as its starting point the complaint presented by the representative Marcela Paganowhich led to an investigation led by the federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita and judge Ariel Lijo. This file analyzes an increase in assets that, according to official records, exceeded 500% in a short period, a variation that the official himself attributed to family loans and asset revaluations, but that investigators consider insufficiently justified.
The property located in Exaltación de la Cruz is formally in the name of Bettina Angeletti, official’s wife. The purchase was made in November 2024 by means of a deed signed before the notary public Adriana Monica Nechevenkoalthough the ownership would not have been updated in the municipal records, where the original seller, Juan Ernesto Cosentino, still appeared.
A complex repair operation was carried out on that home, which today constitutes the most compromising core of the file. The architect and contractor Matías Tabar, linked to the Alta Arquitectura group, declared under oath that the works required $245,929 and that they were paid entirely in cash, without invoices or formal records. According to his testimony, the payments were made in multiple deliveries in dollars, directly in hand and within the country itself, between November 2024 and July 2025.
The original budget for the work, close to $94,000, was progressively increased with the incorporation of high-cost improvements: comprehensive remodeling, installation of porcelain tiles, construction of a grill, kitchen renovations with island and breakfast area, travertine marble coatings, and modifications to the pool that included a jacuzzi system. However, the element that attracted the most media and political attention was the construction of an ornamental waterfall in the garden of the home.
The opposition, led by deputies such as Esteban Paulon and legislators who promoted the interpellation of the official in Congress, question what they call a “systematic omission” of assets in their presentations to the Anti-Corruption Office. According to cited records, Adorni has frequently hidden behind “reserved annexes” to avoid giving details about the properties in his spouse’s name or about the origin of funds for his family trips. While his declared assets at the end of 2024 were around $107.9 million, his reported debts exceeded US$725,000, a gap that the prosecutor’s office is investigating as possible illicit enrichment and falsification of public documents.
Faced with these accusations, Adorni has maintained a defensive stance, describing the complaints as “political operettas” and “media carnage.” In his press conferences and legislative presentations, the Chief of Staff assured that all his assets are duly declared and that the expenses were met with his own genuine resources.
However, the persistence of doubts about properties not included in his 2024 public declarations and the recent listing of an apartment in La Plata – originally declared as a donation – have intensified scrutiny over his asset evolution, which would have experienced a growth of more than 500% since his entry into public service.
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