Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, who was caught carrying almost $800,000 in cash into Argentina in August, will be investigated by Congress for plotting against the government of Hugo Chavez, a Venezuelan lawmaker said today.

Antonini ``formed part of an international conspiracy in the acts of April 11, 2002,'' when Chavez was briefly ousted in a coup, legislator Iris Varela said today in a statement on the Web site of the National Assembly.

Venezuelan authorities have condemned Antonini since he began cooperating with U.S. prosecutors investigating the presence of unregistered foreign agents in the U.S. The U.S. says that Antonini, a Florida businessman, was told by agents of Venezuela to lie about the origin of the cash he took into Argentina, which prosecutors say came from Chavez's government.

The U.S. says Chavez sent Antonini to Argentina with a suitcase full of $50 bills to fund the campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was later elected president.

One Venezuelan associated with the case pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to being an unregistered foreign agent; three other suspects face a March 17 trial.

Theresa Van Vliet, Antonini's lawyer, wasn't immediately available for comment.

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