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As FIFA fans fill stadiums across North America, a strange financial mystery is unfolding behind the scenes — one involving a Florida LLC, hundreds of millions of dollars, and the Argentine Football Association.
Federal prosecutors in South Florida are reportedly examining more than $300 million in transactions tied to the reigning World Cup champion’s commercial operations, alleging money laundering, wire fraud, and tax evasion.
According to reporting by Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors have opened an investigation into the financial operations of the Argentine Football Association through a Florida-based company that allegedly handled hundreds of millions of dollars in international sponsorship revenue.
The reported investigation centers on TourProdEnter LLC (incorporated in Florida in August 2021), which allegedly acted as the collection agent for the AFA’s international commercial contracts.
According to Argentine newspaper La Nación, investigators are examining whether transactions moving through the U.S. financial system—including sponsorship payments from companies such as Adidas and Warner Bros. Discovery—could constitute crimes under U.S. law, including money laundering or bank fraud. Prosecutors are reportedly reviewing transfers exceeding $300 million.
The investigation reportedly began taking shape in 2025 and involves prosecutors in Washington, D.C., as well as the Southern District of Florida. One of the prosecutors identified by Argentine media as Michael Berger previously helped secure the Miami money-laundering conviction of former Ecuadorian comptroller Carlos Ramón Pólit.
According to the reports, FBI agents have already interviewed Argentine sports businessman Guillermo Tofoni as part of the inquiry.
Argentine television reports from Ciudadano News this week also identified theater producer Javier Faroni and his wife, Erica Gillette (who resides in an apartment in Sunny Isles, according to Florida Division of Corporations records), as central figures in the investigation because of their connection to TourProdEnter LLC, the Miami company that allegedly handled AFA’s international commercial revenue.
During a broadcast on Tuesday, hosts claimed Argentine prosecutors have summoned Faroni and Gillette to testify on Jan. 19 as investigators examine hundreds of millions of dollars that allegedly moved through TourProdEnter’s U.S. bank accounts. The hosts also claimed investigators are reviewing transactions involving multiple American financial institutions, although Argentine authorities have not publicly confirmed details of the hearing or identified the banks involved.
Gillette could not be reached for comment by the time of this publication.
Latest chapter in mounting scrutiny
The reported U.S. investigation comes after months of mounting legal problems for the AFA in Argentina.
In December, the Associated Press reported that Argentine federal police raided AFA headquarters and numerous soccer clubs as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering and tax evasion involving financial services firm Sur Finanzas. Authorities sought contracts and financial records documenting the company’s relationships with clubs and the federation.
Later reporting by Reuters detailed additional criminal complaints involving AFA president Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia and other federation officials, who have denied wrongdoing and argued they are being politically targeted amid a broader dispute with Argentine President Javier Milei over the future of professional soccer in the country.
Because many international sponsorship and media-rights payments allegedly moved through a U.S.-registered company and the American banking system, federal prosecutors may have jurisdiction over transactions that occurred outside Argentina if they involved U.S. financial institutions. That’s the same legal framework federal authorities have used in previous international soccer corruption investigations, including the landmark 2015 FIFA bribery prosecutions.
At this stage, however, no criminal charges have been announced in the United States against the AFA or its leadership, and investigators appear to be gathering testimony and financial records.
The AFA had not responded to New Times’ inquiries via Instagram or email by the time of this reporting.
