La Plata judicial official was charged in alleged $27 billion money laundering scheme using bought accounts

A judicial official in La Plata has been charged in a case involving alleged fraud, money laundering, and criminal association. For high-risk PSPs, the part worth paying attention to is the mechanics: virtual wallets, identity data taken from vulnerable people, and an alleged “smurfing” setup built to move money while staying below normal controls.

1. According to the investigation, the case centers on roughly $27.000 million moved over the course of a year. Prosecutor Betina Lacki charged A. M., a member of the Patronato de Liberados, after her arrest this week. On Friday, she was summoned to testify but refused to answer questions.
2. The prosecutor now has 15 days, extendable by another 15 days, to decide whether to request preventive detention. The report says the investigation reached a key stage on 16 April 2026, when Lacki ordered multiple raids after months of technical analysis produced the evidentiary base.
3. The alleged scheme is described as “smurfing” or “pitufeo”: breaking large sums into many smaller transactions to evade financial monitoring. Investigators believe the organization used personal data from vulnerable people and accounts in virtual wallets to hide the origin of funds.
4. People were allegedly offered $80.000 for their personal and biometric data. They were then taken to a bar in the 7 and 56 area in central La Plata, where operators reportedly photographed them, scanned their faces, and opened digital accounts in their names.
5. Those accounts allegedly worked as money mules, receiving and sending funds of unknown origin. The money was then routed to an illegal online casino, where it was converted into supposed gambling winnings, making the trail harder to follow.

For PSPs and acquirers, the signal is pretty clear: the combination of virtual wallets, mule accounts, face capture, and gambling endpoints is exactly the kind of chain that can look ordinary at the transaction level and toxic once the flow is mapped end to end.