Faced with the accusation of improper maneuvers for at least US$ 400 million in the exchange market and transfers made with the intention of “leaking foreign currency”, the founder of the Uruguayan unicorn, Sergio Fogel, offered his version to the Montevideo Portal. He said that he was aware of what happened and that the company’s lawyers did not verify the opening of a case against dLocal. “There is no open case” against dLocal, he said, adding: “We checked with the lawyers and there is nothing in the official records.”
Fogel pointed out that dLocal operates in more than 40 countries responding to the current legislation of each nation and that in Argentina, in particular, the regulations establish that when a company is preparing to expatriate dollars, the destination of the money must be specified. “We always did and we gave the correct data, so I don’t have any more information than that,” Fogel said.
The founder of the company said he did not know what the investigation was responding to and stated: “There is nothing out of the ordinary and we are operating completely normally.”
“We are an audited company that is looked at under a microscope and If there is an investigation we will collaborate. Today there is none. We found out from the press, but we are working and operating normally and we will continue like this,” he concluded.
The accusation
According to the information published by Infobae and confirmed The Observer Argentine Customs, which is conducting the investigation, is considering notifying the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Wall Street regulator, and will seek to obtain information from the United States Treasury and Homeland Security Investigations on the whereabouts of at least US$ 400 million that the dLocal company allegedly “fled” abroad.
The investigated maneuver presumably refers to taking advantage of the exchange gap to withdraw dollars abroad with operations not reflected in the accounting. It is noted that in its balance sheet it practically “does not have” fixed assets, and only declares rents that supposedly belong to the “domicile of its exploitation”. In addition, it is stated that dLocal receives invoices from abroad from its parent company, issues B invoices to foreign clients to justify income, and invoices companies in the same group. These practices would allow you to avoid the obligation to settle foreign currency from the export of services.
