Argentine soccer body has poured millions into Miami. FBI wants to know why
While Argentina’s storied soccer team has reached the World Cup quarterfinals, federal authorities have been investigating the Argentine Football Association for possible fraud and money laundering stemming from hundreds of millions of dollars in bank transactions linked to the United States, according to two law-enforcement sources familiar with the probe in Washington and Miami.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the financial operations of the Argentine soccer body, headed by President Claudio Tapia, who was in Miami for the country’s victory over Cape Verde last week. Argentina faces Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
La Nación, the Argentine newspaper that broke the story on Wednesday, reported that the FBI is probing how the AFA moved more than $300 million to banks and companies in South Florida and elsewhere.
The Argentine newspaper reported that during the match against Cape Verde, FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors questioned Argentine sports businessman Guillermo Tofoni. The FBI is reportedly seeking evidence about AFA’s operations under Tapia’s leadership and its relationship with TourProdEnter LLC, a South Florida company that handled the association’s overseas commercial agreements.
The FBI’s questioning of Tofoni reportedly centered on how the AFA structured its international commercial agreements and whether its transactions involving U.S.-based banks and companies might have broken U.S law by concealing potentially illicit funds and their purpose. No charges have been filed in Argentina.
Meanwhile, Tapia remains in the United States as Argentina continues its 2026 FIFA World Cup run. Argentine courts gave Tapia permission to travel despite facing charges at home over his alleged mismanagement of tax and Social Security funds totaling more than 19 billion Argentine pesos ($12.7 million). This is unrelated to the AFA investigation in Miami.
In the United States, no formal charges have been filed in connection with the AFA probe.
On Wednesday, the FBI’s Miami field office declined to comment about the probe or its existence.
In March, the Miami Herald reported on the AFA’s link to several “virtual offices” in Miami-Dade County. One is for TourProdEnter LLC in Aventura.
According to confidential banking records and corporate documents reviewed by the Miami Herald, the Aventura-based company is at the center of a sprawling financial network connected to Argentina’s top soccer authority.
READ MORE: Miami shell companies linked to $260 million Argentine soccer scandal
“We are talking about at least $260 million ..., and it’s a provisional figure that will grow,” said Nicolás Pizzi, who is an investigative journalist for the Argentine newspaper La Nación and broke the original story on the soccer scandal this year. Pizzi spoke with the Herald in March at a Miami forum organized by the Inter-American Institute for Democracy.
The scandal has expanded into an international investigation, placing Miami at the center of a complex web of shell companies, offshore transfers and opaque financial flows that might have deceived U.S. banks about the potentially illicit nature of the funds and how they would be used. At its core lies a familiar pattern: money moving quickly, obscured ownership and oversight struggling to keep pace.
But some of the most revealing details uncovered by La Nación go beyond corporate structures and bank transfers — and into how the money was allegedly spent.
According to the Argentine newspaper, the AFA paid $340,000 to the family of a so-called “spiritual guide” who traveled with the national team to major tournaments, including the Copa América in 2024 and this year’s World Cup. The payments — 17 transfers of $20,000 each — were made to the son of José Almaraz, a former player described as a spiritual guide close to AFA leadership. Almaraz’s role was never formally defined, but he was believed by top officials to bring good luck, and all of his travel expenses were covered.
The same reporting identified additional questionable transfers, including $468,000 sent to a company linked to AFA Treasurer Pablo Toviggino, $40,000 paid to his business partner and $2.3 million routed to a U.S.-registered company tied to an individual with no clear financial profile.
Taken together — along with $42 million routed through Florida shell companies and at least $16.5 million in luxury spending — investigators have traced roughly $90 million in potentially irregular uses of funds to date.
Because the transactions involved American banks and Florida-registered entities, the case has drawn the attention of U.S. authorities. Investigators are examining whether any laws were violated, including those related to money laundering or financial disclosure, as cross-border cooperation between U.S. and Argentine agencies continues.
Legal experts caution that cases of this scale — spanning multiple countries and financial systems — can take years to resolve.
