Who is ‘Fred’ Machado, suspect linked to Espert scandal?

The name of Federico Andrés ‘Fred’ Machado has burst onto the Argentine political scene. 

He is now being singled out by some as the financier of the 2019 presidential campaign of José Luis Espert, to whom he allegedly later supplied US$200,000, a private jet and a van. But behind their alleged connection is the profile of a businessman accused by US courts of heading a sophisticated ring of international drug-trafficking, multi-million fraud and money-laundering. 

Machado has been under arrest in Viedma, in his native province of Río Negro since April 2021, awaiting the definition of his extradition to face charges which could cost him life imprisonment.

From aviation to international drug-trafficking

From the façade of his Florida-based aviation enterprise South Aviation, Federico Andrés ‘Fred’ Machado, 53, is accused of orchestrating a complex criminal operation. 

According to US court filings, his modus operandi consisted of the fraudulent purchase of aircraft, using false registration to hide his ownership and then transferring them to countries like Colombia, Venezuela or Mexico to smuggle huge cargoes of cocaine into the United States.

The scale of the operation was massive. The investigations link him to the discovery of 1,556 kilos of cocaine in an aeroplane abandoned in Mexico and with over 2.5 tons of the same drug confiscated in a jet in Guatemala.

Empire of fraud – and false step

Aside from drug-trafficking, Machado is accused of defrauding businessmen with the fake purchases of private aircraft. The estimated damage from these manoeuvres, according to informed sources of the case, reaches some US$250 million.

His downfall began in 2020, when he was arrested and then released in Texas, fleeing to Mexico before entering Argentina in March, 2021. 

As ascertained by Noticias Argentinas news agency, the investigation in this country was activated after a request for collaboration from the US Embassy, co-ordinated with PROCUNAR, the prosecutors specialising in drug-trafficking.

On April 16, 2021, he was detained by the PSA airport police at Neuquén Airport when about to board a flight on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice. 
Since then he has been waiting in a cell for his extradition to be resolved.

Humble beginnings

Machado and his brother Gastón Edgardo Machado are not natives of Miami or some Caribbean paradise grew up in the Constitución neighbourhood of Trelew, Chubut Province, popularly known as the "Mil Viviendas" (“Thousand Homes”), according to reporting by the  Chubut-based publication Jornada. 

According to the same article, the brothers’ father worked as a metalworker in that area and ran a company called Pina SRL.

Machado moved to Miami, United States, some years ago, though he regularly returned to Viedma, where he has a base. He has also lived in Guatemala, where he oversaw a US$40-million building project.

– TIMES/PERFIL/NA