\n<\/p>\n
Argentine lawmaker Jos\u00e9 Luis Espert, who until days ago was leading La Libertad Avanza (LLA) on the Buenos Aires Province ballot ahead of the parliamentary elections, has been formally charged with laundering proceeds from drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
On one front, San Isidro prosecutor Fernando Dom\u00ednguez accuses him of receiving $200,000 from Federico \u201cFred\u201d Machado, a businessman who is a fugitive in the United States on drug trafficking, fraud, and money-laundering charges. In parallel, Espert is tied to a separate case led by Judge Marcelo Mart\u00ednez de Giorgi and prosecutor Alejandra Mangano that is investigating a series of undeclared private flights and expenses that allegedly benefited Javier Milei\u2019s campaign\u2014an irregular financing web shaking the libertarian space.<\/p>\n
The far-right congressman, who resigned his candidacy on Sunday\u2014leaving an LLA vacancy in Argentina\u2019s largest and most hotly contested district\u2014must now appoint legal counsel to mount his defense.<\/p>\n
The so-called \u201cnarco scandal\u201d handled by prosecutor Dom\u00ednguez\u2014under seal\u2014originated with a 2020 money transfer to Espert from Argentine businessman Federico \u201cFred\u201d Machado, accused of exporting cocaine to the U.S. through the fraudulent purchase of aircraft.<\/p>\n
The funds were purportedly paid for \u201ceconomic consulting,\u201d but the contract has never been produced. Espert publicly acknowledged receiving the advance and keeping the money even though the work was never completed.<\/p>\n
Investigators suspect the transaction was a front to launder drug money, using the economist as a conduit to inject illicit funds into Argentina\u2019s financial system.<\/p>\n
According to evidence reported by outlets such as P\u00e1gina\/12, the operation appears to have been executed through a shell company called Wright Brothers\u2014ostensibly dedicated to aircraft purchases and leasing and owned by Machado\u2014who was arrested in 2021 and is under house arrest in R\u00edo Negro Province, awaiting a final decision from U.S. courts on his extradition.<\/p>\n
The transfer included a telling detail: the registration of the businessman\u2019s private jet, N28FM, linked to suspicious flights between Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia.<\/p>\n
Espert initially claimed the money came from a Guatemalan firm, Minas del Pueblo, allegedly the consulting client. Bank records, however, flatly contradicted that account, showing the funds originated from Bank of America accounts, moved through cryptocurrencies and intermediary banks (Citibank and Morgan Stanley), and were ultimately deposited into his Argentine account.<\/p>\n
Argentine media cite judicial sources who say documents sent from Texas confirm the trail of those funds and their connection to an international money-laundering network tied to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
The theory of possible illicit enrichment by the \u201clibertarian\u201d deputy gained traction after his own spokesperson, Clara Montero Barr\u00e9, admitted that \u201csince he received money from Machado, Espert changed his standard of living.\u201d<\/p>\n
The financial and logistical support for Espert allegedly dates back to the 2019 presidential race, in which he ran, and the 2021 legislative elections that brought him into the Chamber of Deputies.<\/p>\n
Espert reportedly took more than 30 flights on aircraft tied to \u201cFred\u201d Machado during the 2019 campaign.<\/p>\n
In the United States, the businessman faces multiple cases for drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering alongside his associate Debra Mercer-Erwin. According to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, his corporate network used a clandestine airstrip in Guatemala to move cocaine and shell companies to obscure financial flows.<\/p>\n
In one open case, Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida ordered him to pay $179 million to 22 victims of a Ponzi-style aircraft scheme. Meanwhile, a Texas prosecutor is investigating \u201cflights with transponders turned off,\u201d allegedly used for narcotics operations.<\/p>\n