Property crimes, regulated under arts. 162 to 185 of the Argentine Penal Code, cover theft, robbery, fraud, defraudation, fraudulent management of assets, extortion, property damage and unlawful occupation of real estate. Today they also include technology-related and crypto-asset offenses: computer fraud, credit card fraud, QR-code scams, platform manipulation, digital wallet hacks.
We assist both victims acting as private prosecutors and defendants in their criminal defense. Strategy varies by case: a simple fraud and a defraudation using sophisticated digital instruments require entirely different approaches, demanding up-to-date expertise in digital investigation, electronic evidence assessment, and accounting advisory.
Theft: unlawful taking of another person's movable property. Robbery: theft with force against property or violence against persons. Aggravating factors — organized gang, scaling, breaking, use of weapons, offense in an inhabited place — are frequently applied and require careful defense.
Fraud requires deceit or misrepresentation that induces error and causes harmful patrimonial disposition. Special forms of defraudation (art. 173) encompass numerous modalities: fraudulent asset management, hospitality contract fraud, document substitution, credit card misuse, and computer fraud.
The most complex offense: a manager or representative of another's assets who harms the owner by breaching their duties. Applies to company directors, agents, guardians, trustees, and fiduciaries. Proof requires accounting expert evidence and thorough documentary analysis.
Obtaining property or value through intimidation or threats. Includes specific modalities: blackmail and extortionate kidnapping.
Total or partial dispossession of someone's possession or custody of real property. Key offense in succession disputes, rental conflicts, and family property disagreements.
Defraudation committed through computer manipulation. The offense applied to bank account hacks, crypto-wallet manipulation, and payment system attacks. Cases are increasingly frequent and technically complex.
Property crimes in the digital realm pose specific evidentiary and technical challenges. We have litigated cases where the core debate involves tracing blockchain transfers, attributing wallets to natural persons, identifying intermediate transactions through mixers or privacy services, and expert evidence on logs, IP addresses and devices. This is an area where technical expertise and procedural strategy are inseparable.
I was a victim of fraud. What should I do first?
File a report with all available evidence: receipts, messages, transfer records, screenshots. The more complete the file, the more efficient the investigation.
Is it possible to recover defrauded money?
It depends on the case. If accounts or assets are identifiable and have not been moved, recovery is possible. Speed is decisive: early precautionary measures (attachments, freezing orders) are the best recovery tool.
I am accused of fraud but there is a real commercial dispute. What can I do?
Fraud requires deceit, misrepresentation and intent. Contractual breaches are not crimes. We work to establish the civil nature of the dispute and obtain dismissal.
Can cryptocurrencies be the subject of theft?
The prevailing case law treats them as assets subject to computer fraud (art. 173 inc. 16). The legal characterization demands specialized defense.
I manage a company and am charged with fraudulent asset management. How do I defend myself?
Accounting analysis of the contested transactions, proof of their legitimate purpose, corporate context, decisions of the management body. This is a defense that combines criminal, corporate and accounting law.