This comes amid the intense discursive offensive of the national government against the oil companies operating in the Malvina Islands and while President Javier Milei is leading a trade mission in Paris to offer "legal security" , a scandal of administrative corruption and violation of sovereign legislation has landed in the Comodoro Py courts.

Economy Minister Luis "Toto" Caputo, along with María Tettamanti, in October 2024, after succeeding Eduardo Rodriguez Chirillo as Secretary of Energy.

The Office of Administrative Investigations (PIA) —a specialized body of the Public Prosecutor's Office dedicated to prosecuting crimes against the public administration— filed a criminal complaint against the current Secretary of Energy, María del Carmen Tettamanti ; the former Secretary of the area, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo ; the Undersecretary of Hydrocarbons, Horacio Federico Veller ; directors of Harbour Energy Argentina and the lawyer Tomás Lanardonne .

The case investigates alleged abuse of authority, incompatible negotiations, and bribery for granting tax privileges to the Southern Energy consortium, made up of the British company Harbour, successor to Premier Oil, which was sanctioned under Law 26,659. The criminal front erupts in the middle of an official tour in Paris.  

The case, initiated by a complaint filed by Río Negro provincial legislator Magdalena Odarda , was formally registered under number CFP 4810/2026 after the Federal Court's draw on September 29. The case was assigned to Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 11 , currently presided over by Judge Ariel Lijo , with the prosecution being led by Gerardo Pollicita .

The maneuver under scrutiny: the RIGI for a sanctioned individual in the Malvinas

The PIA's accusation points to a scheme involving alleged abuse of authority, breach of official duties, conflicts of interest, and bribery . The central focus of the investigation is the granting of multimillion-dollar exchange, tax, and customs incentives under the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) to Southern Energy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project.

This consortium —shared by Pan American Energy, YPF, Pampa Energía and the Norwegian Golar— has a 15% stake held by the British Harbour Energy .

The legal and political contradiction is insurmountable:

Sovereign contradiction and short circuit in Paris

The institutional impact of the complaint took on an immediate international dimension, coinciding with the government's participation in Argentina Week in Paris. Secretary Tettamanti is part of the official delegation, along with Daniel González and Federico Ramos Nápoli, to promote the RIGI (Regional Investment Guarantee Agency) to European investors in the energy and mining sectors.

The contrast between the official narrative and the judicial reality is devastating:

1.   Double discursive standard: While President Milei attacks the UN, issues international injunctions against Great Britain over Sea Lion and threatens to take London to the Hamburg Court, his own administration enabled a regime of tax exemptions and free availability of foreign currency to a London-based corporation that has the direct precedent of having drilled without permission in the islands.

2.   Impact on the energy sector: Vaca Muerta suppliers warn that the criminal case casts "dark clouds" over the legality and transparency of the RIGI allocation, undermining the supposed legal certainty offered in international forums.

3.   Internal strife within the regulatory bodies: The indictment touches on Horacio Federico Veller , who in recent hours was holding meetings with the board of the National Gas and Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENReGE), positioning himself to preside over the new unified body, a strategic position that is now overshadowed by the criminal investigation.

The PIA's actions introduce an unavoidable variable into the equation: the pressure is not coming from an external entity, but from the Argentine State's own Public Prosecutor's Office. While the Foreign Ministry is issuing a formal warning to the Foreign Office regarding the exploitation in the South Atlantic, the federal courts will have to determine how and why the highest energy authorities on the continent opened the doors of the RIGI (Regional Investment Guarantee Agency) wide to the same British capital that is challenging national sovereignty in the Malvina Islands.

Fountain:

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