The judicial investigation for illicit enrichment that is being carried out against Manuel Adorni added new testimony this Tuesday. It is about Hugo Moralesa former soccer player who owned the apartment at 500 Miró Street where the Chief of Staff lives today, until he sold it to the official’s lenders. In front of the researchers, He said he sold the property cheap because of the poor condition it was in..
Morales declared via Zoom from mid-morning this Tuesday. He thus became the first of the witnesses to be summoned under oath to tell the truth, within the framework of a round that will continue tomorrow, Wednesday, with Adorni’s notary, Monica Nechevenko.
As far as he could know Timethe former soccer player said that his intention was to sell the apartment for 250 thousand dollars. As a reason, he gave that it was in a state of significant deterioration as a result of lack of maintenance. And that two men went to see it along with the buyers Beatriz Viega (72) and Claudia Sbabo (64), who later sold it to the current official, but not without financing most of the value of the property.
However, Morales declared that he ended up deeding the property for a value of 200 thousand dollars, that is, 50 thousand dollars less than what he intended. The amount coincides with the declaration made by the retirees when registering the transaction in May 2025, according to information published by the newspaper La Nación.
On the day they wrote, in addition to the two women, there were the other two men mentioned above, whose identity is unknown.
One element that was striking is that Morales said that the day the sale was completed he decided to take the money in cash and not deposit it in a bank.
Morales, known as “Huguito”, played for Lanús and Huracán. After retiring from professional football, he lived for a few years in the city of Buenos Aires until he decided to go to Bella Vista, a town in Corrientes, where he worked as manager of a local club.
Some time after selling to the two retirees, these new owners sold to Adorni, for only 30 thousand dollars more than the amount for which they bought. Even more striking is that when they sold it, each one lent 100 thousand dollars as a mortgage to the current Chief of Staff. Tomorrow, Wednesday, when Nechevenko, the notary, testifies, investigators will seek to find out more details about this transfer.
On top of that, doubts also revolve around the low price at which the property on Miró Street was sold when taking into account that market prices in the area average double that.
The lenders, cited
This Tuesday, Pollicita summoned the four women who appear as Adorni’s mortgage lenders to testify.
Sbabo and Viegawho lent him 200 thousand dollars to purchase the Caballito apartment, must appear in Comodoro Py this Thursday, April 9. Meanwhile, next Monday they will have to do it Graciela Isabel Molina de Cancio and Victoria María José Canciowho lent the official $85,000 and $15,000, respectively, within the framework of a mortgage on the house that Adorni had on Assembly Avenue.
New measures
Adorni, who appointed the criminal lawyer as his lawyer Matias Ledesmais investigated for illicit enrichment due to apparent inconsistencies between his standard of living and his salary as a public official. Also in the spotlight is the acquisition of his house in the country Indio Cuá Golf Club in Exaltación de la Cruz, which occurred in November 2024.
For this reason, in the last few hours, prosecutor Pollicita issued a new request for measures to expand the information. According to judicial sources, he asked the Real Estate Registries of the city and province of Buenos Aires for the complete ownership history of the properties linked to the official with owners, transfers, deeds, mortgages and other elements.
He also requested from the consortia extra information about the properties linked to Adorni and his partner Bettina Angeletti: he wants them to provide him with information on expenses, payments, intervening accounts and possible works or improvements.
This last measure becomes relevant from the testimony that Morales gave and the poor condition the property was in, a reason he used to justify the low sales price at which he sold.
