Innocent tennis star: why the name Roger Federer appears in Argentina’s biggest financial scandal

Hundreds of cases of fraud, money laundering and the management of criminal assets – the Argentine judiciary last Thursday sentenced former businessman Enrique Blaksley to eight years in prison. According to court documents, Blaksley defrauded more than 300 people of 185 million pesos (equivalent to over 850,000 francs) with his Hope Funds foundation. In addition to the prison sentence, the court sentenced Enrique Blaksley to a fine of four times the amount of the offence.

Several prominent names stand out in local media coverage of the case: Hope Funds had sponsored high-profile sporting events in Argentina in the past. Various articles therefore include the names of US tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams, Argentine polo legend Adolfo Cambiaso, former Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt – and also the Swiss superstar Roger Federer.

In a picture in the reports on Blaksley’s conviction, Federer can be seen with the “Argentinian Madoff”. In 2012, Hope Funds used money of dubious origin to finance the maestro’s visit to Buenos Aires and two performances where the Swiss met local matador Juan Martín del Potro (20 minutes reported at the time). Roger Federer has nothing to do with the financial scandal.

Enrique Blaksley lured investors with promises of returns of up to 12 percent a year in dollars, well above the market rate. The victims initially trusted family and friends, who received the payments with no problems. But the deal was a Ponzi scheme: the money used to pay interest came from new customers’ money, not backed by investments.

The case blew up a few years later when Hope Funds filed for more than 25 bankruptcies. Blaksley was no longer able to pay out the promised return, and under pressure from his creditors, the company closed its offices overnight. In September 2018, police arrested the scammer at his luxury property at Pacheco Golf Club, north of the city of Buenos Aires.