Recent reports reveal that El Salvador’s Court of Accounts is gearing up for an investigation into the government’s Bitcoin investment following a complaint.
On 10 September, a complaint was filed by the regional human rights organization Cristosal, prompting the investigation. The Court of Accounts is expected to impose administrative and asset sanctions against guilty government officials.
The probe will reportedly also look into the purchases of automated teller machines (ATM) and construction of Chivo kiosks by the President Bukele led regime.
El Salvador recently became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. However, the country has had to put up with several hurdles since its first week of implementation.
The country-wide rollout was supported by a digital wallet named Chivo that is linked to physical ATMs to enable users to withdraw hard cash.
Nevertheless, a likely audit seems to be in the pipeline after protests broke out across the country over the past few weeks.
Many citizens took to the streets to revolt against the Salvadoran regime and its sudden decision to make Bitcoin legal tender. Demonstrations quickly turned violent, and BTC PEERS reported that protesters kicking against the recently implemented Bitcoin law had destroyed a crypto kiosk in the nation’s capital city of San Salvador.
The court can present notices and could also initiate criminal proceedings in case of irregularities. Government administrators, specifically members of the finance and economy ministries, along with commerce and investments, will be under the radar.
According to international observers, El Salvador is losing its democratic status under its increasingly authoritative regime.