In the Government there is concern about the snowball of “Fred” Machado, the Argentine businessman extradited by the United States Justice. It happens that the man, who could become an FBI collaborator to improve his procedural situation, increasingly appears linked to more people, all linked to the libertarian world. Let’s see.
At first, hours before he was extradited, he gave an interview to Rio Negro journalist Carolina Fernández where he mentioned not only the name of José Luis Espert, the candidate whom he financed with $200,000 for his presidential race in 2019, but also those of Patricia Bullrich and Governor Alberto Weretilneck. In addition, he appointed Santiago Caputo. He said things like these: “I send Santiago Caputo a message: ‘I don’t want to go to the United States. If this explodes, I will fund everything. I speak and the country will fall tomorrow.’ The response was: ‘Message received.'”
He was whitewashing, before the press, that he had had contacts with the highest levels of Javier Milei’s administration to prevent him from being handed over to North American Justice. And that, if that didn’t happen, he was going to sing and “the country would fall.”
In the interview he also talked about alleged financial aid to Patricia Bullrich’s presidential campaign in 2023 and his alleged links with the governor of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck, through businesses in the province of Río Negro awarded to his cousin, Claudio Cicarelli. And he also complained: “Espert should not have denied me. Why did he deny me?”
Cousin Cicarelli would also be the link with the former deputy and now senator-elect Lorena Villaverde, very close to him and with a case for drug dealing in the United States that was about to complicate his assumption in the Senate. If he does not take office, his place would be left for his second on the list, Enzo Fullone, identified in Río Negro as an alleged “stepson” of “Fred” due to the relationship that the businessman had with his mother. Furthermore, in the province they point out that Machado financed several ventures of Fullone, who denies everything.
Finally, the icing on the cake is Karen Reickhardt, whose ex-husband also received money from “Fred” Machado, in this case, a money order for 230 thousand dollars. This is Gustavo Balabanianun, a businessman in charge of Paraná Seguros who benefited from the libertarian government, which allowed him to enter the ART business. Karen explained that Machado’s turn “was blank” and defended her ex: “He’s eating this shit for me.”
For more information, he explained that the money that Machado sent to Balabanianun in 2015 was for “a transaction that has to do with aeronautics,” when he exchanged his plane for another. “Machado was a pilot and later he dedicated himself to selling airplanes and fixing them,” he added. Better not to keep asking.
It is clear that “Fred” is a poisonous stain that affects more and more members of local politics. And he still did not mention the name of the President, perhaps on the advice of his lawyer, Francisco Oneto.
If the name Oneto sounds familiar to you, it is for a simple reason: he also represents Milei.
