Once again the scandal along libertarian lines crosses drug trafficking, aviation and political finance. Now a new chapter has been added with the revelation of a twist US$230,000 carried out by the alleged drug trafficker Federico “Fred” Machado to the ex-husband of the elected libertarian representative Karen Reichardt. That operation had until now remained hidden in bank documents and court records, and revives complaints about how financing operates within Freedom Advances.
The ex-husband of Karina Celia Vázquez, Reichardt’s real name is Gustavo Balabaniana businessman in the insurance sector and director of the company Paraná Insurance. According to reports, the manager appears as the beneficiary of a transfer of US$230,000 from the company South Aviation of Fred Machado, according to the records of the Bank of America. The date of the transfer was August 24, 2015when the former star would have already been separated from Balabanian, with whom she had two children.
Recently, the elected legislator initially reacted by stating that the accusations were “nonsense” when they linked her ex-husband and Machado. However, he later had to recognize that the transfer was a “blank” payment and maintained that the operation was not irregular, but rather a transaction in the aeronautical world. “Machado was a pilot and later he sold airplanes and fixed aircraft,” Reichardt declared, adding that the money could have been for “an aeronautics operation.”
This payment of US$230,000 is not an isolated event. It is inserted into a larger plot that links the businessman Machado with libertarian figures. For example, Gustavo Balabanian appears in the lobbyist’s notebooks Miguel Calvetewhich are part of an investigation into alleged bribes in the National Disability Agency (ANDIS). According to the La Política Online portal, the case points to a possible libertarian “financing matrix” through Machado with other LLA leaders.
For his part, Machado has recognized part of these links. A few years ago, the alleged drug trafficker financially supported the presidential campaign of José Luis Espert. The former LLA deputy denied having received money from the businessman, but a US judicial investigation discovered payments to the liberal leader who was running again to occupy a seat in the National Congress. Finally, the economist had to get off the libertarian list for the mid-term legislative elections and was replaced by Diego Santilli.
As it turned out, Espert also used planes owned by Machado in his campaign. This link has unleashed a crisis within the libertarian space of Javier Milei, and various sectors demand that an investigation be carried out to determine how far this financing extends. Detained since April 2021 under house arrest in his mansion in Viedma, due to an extradition request from the US Justice Department, the businessman was sent to Texas to stand trial a week ago.
Machado is accused of leading a transnational network dedicated to cocaine trafficking, money laundering and fraud, using an aeronautical company registered in Florida called South Aviation. The charges detail that his criminal scheme consisted of fraudulently purchasing airplanes, hiding their real owners through front companies, and flying those aircraft to Latin American countries to then load them with drugs. In addition, the US prosecutor’s office accuses him of fraud: defrauding investors in aircraft for amounts exceeding US$250 million.
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