Argentine lawyer Facundo Leal, former president of the state company ARSAT (Argentine Satellite Solutions Company) and former director of the National Airport System Regulatory Agency (ORSNA), was arrested this Saturday after the discovery of more than US$2 million in cash and drugs on his property, as part of an operation initially conceived to investigate the lack of technological equipment in the telecommunications company.
The original case began following a government complaint about the alleged theft of IT assets within ARSAT. However, investigators stumbled upon large sums of money and illicit substances by chance, opening a new line of investigation for alleged money laundering and drug trafficking, according to sources from the case gathered by the media outlet Página 12.
Leal, 42, has an extensive background in the national public administration of the neighboring country. He assumed the presidency of the aforementioned telecommunications company in 2022, under the administration of Alberto Fernández, a position he maintained after the political shift in the Casa Rosada.
In 2025, he was appointed by the government of Javier Milei to head the ORSNA – a position he held until his resignation at the end of February 2026 – although at the time of his arrest he was still linked to ARSAT as a permanent employee.
The case, which is under the charge of federal judge Lino Mirabelli, is still in the investigation phase where it will “seek to establish the origin of the funds, the destination of the money found, and the possible connection with the maneuvers investigated around contracts and operations within the state company”, according to judicial sources.
The accused will remain detained at the disposal of the Federal Justice, with a file that, following the discovery, added new criminal, economic, and political implications.
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