Overview

• Argentina paused Machado’s transfer after an August 21 court directive sent a late defense filing to Juzgado Federal No. 2 of Neuquén to request the contents of a January 23, 2024 Texas decision and its impact on the case.
• Machado, arrested at Neuquén airport in April 2021, remains under house arrest in a Viedma residence while the extradition review proceeds.
• Media cite a U.S. trust document reflecting a reported US$200,000 payment to José Luis Espert in February 2020, as the lawmaker acknowledges using Machado’s plane and a vehicle but rejects wrongdoing and calls the accusations an infamy.
• Espert’s former press chief, Clara Montero Barré, says Machado met the candidate multiple times and offered money, a private plane and an armored truck, while noting she cannot verify the alleged US$200,000 figure.
• U.S. prosecutors in the Eastern District of Texas accuse Machado of an aircraft registration and escrow-fraud scheme tied to cocaine trafficking, with HSI describing cartel use of exported planes and co-defendant Debra Mercer already sentenced to 16 years.