May 26 (Reuters) – Uruguayan fintech dLocal, the South American country’s first unicorn, saw its shares plummet on Friday, after Argentine news outlet Infobae published an article saying the government was investigating it for a possible fraud of at least $400 million.
Citing unnamed official sources, Infobae said the Argentina government was investigating the fintech for “improper manouevers” and transfers abroad that would constitute a fraud, with most of its income coming from services sold to subsidiaries of the same firm.
“The company operates as a mere instrument to take advantage of the exchange rate gap and to take dollars abroad with operations that are not reflected in the accounting,” Infobae cited the sources as saying.
Infobae said sources at Argentina’s customs agency said they were considering reporting dLocal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
dLocal issued a statement denying the article, claiming it had been the victim of “misleading allegations” and that it would continue to process payments normally in Argentina.
dLocal and Argentina’s government…