Miguel Ángel Pires

Miguel Ángel Pires (born 15 December 1970) is an Argentine businessman who has been a leading figure in several sports-related enterprises in his native country and has served as the agent for many famous soccer players. In 2013 he was implicated in money-laundering scandals involving Argentinian presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner that reportedly made him a millionaire “overnight.”

Career In the 1990s he worked for HAZ Sport Agency, run by Fernando Hidalgo, which represented soccer players. He was Hildalgo's “right hand” and rose to become the agent for the soccer star Juan Sebastián Verón. He was later able to leave HAZ and form his own businesses, reportedly partly due to his connections with Kirchner, whom Pires has described as a “good friend,” and businessman Lázaro Báez. Pires gained the support and confidence of Báez after having befriended the latter's son. Through Báez, he met Máximo Kirchner, son of the then and current presidents, and as a result he met Néstor Kirchner himself.

Between 2009 and 2010, Pires established the firms MP Sports SA, Building Sports SA, and PIRVI SA Paralelamente.

Before becoming involved directly with Kirchner, Pires was reportedly engaged in a money-laundering operation with Báez that involved the Racing Club. Rubén Ramírez, Nicolás Cabrera, Pablo Lugüercio, Gabriel Mercado, and Nicolás Pellerano. Pires, who had grown up in a poor neighborhood, now lived in a fashionable part of Buenos Aires and drove Porsches and Ferraris, Lanata revealed. Lanata suggested that Pires had prospered not only as a result of money laundering, but also through overpricing, bribes, and other illegal activities. A writer for OPI (Organización Periodística Independiente) Santa Cruz opined that the transgressions by Pires and others that had been revealed so far by Lanata appeared to represent “the tip of the iceberg of…an enormous mass of corruption” that remained to be uncovered. Coronel was formerly the partner of celebrated Argentinian actor and entrepreneur Ricardo Fort, who died in 2013 and whose family owns a major confectionery company. The day after Lanata's report aired, Fort spoke to Lanata on Radio Mitre, telling him that Pires had given Julio “everything he had with me: cars, credit cards, travel.” The difference, Fort said, was that his own money had been honestly earned by his family, while Pires's money had been “stolen from the people.” Fort noted that while Pires said he did not wish to be known, Julio had posted on Facebook photos of the Lamborghini he had just bought in Miami. Fort also said that he had received threats by phone and text message, presumably from people connected with Pires, who bragged “that they had very strong government connections” and that they would do something to me.”

It was reported in January 2014 that Pires, who was in the middle of a legal struggle over Vallaba’s assets, including “apartments and houses worth millions of dollars,” had “taken refuge” in Miami in the wake of the money-laundering scandal. “He cannot set foot on Argentinian soil,” said a source close to Pires, because if he does, he will “end up behind bars.” The source added that Vallaba was in possession of “very strong pieces of evidence that could harm him and leave him much worse off than he is now.”

Pires has a home in Miami and an apartment in calle Viamonte in Buenos Aires. Two government filings in 2009 and 2010 identified both Pires and Vallaba as residing at an address on calle Viamonte, but also identified Pires as living at Castro Barros 74 and Liniers 500, both in Bernal, Buenos Aires.