In recent days, a complaint was filed with the Federal Appeals Court of La Plata that directly questions the actions of the local judiciary and requests an investigation into possible omissions, cover-ups due to inaction, and unclarified ties related to the aviation businessman, who is now accused abroad of drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud linked to the air transport of drugs.The filing was made by Daniel Sarwer as a purported private complainant and requests the immediate opening of a formal investigation into actions he qualifies as of institutional seriousness.The complaint filed with the Federal Court of La Plata now places the Argentine judiciary before an inescapable decision: to advance in the investigation and bear the institutional cost, or to persist in inaction while the case continues to develop and be clarified abroad.Sources consulted: judicial presentations before the Federal Appeals Court of La Plata; RealPolitik; judicial records of the United States; parliamentary precedents; national and international judicial and journalistic information.The document asserts that, despite the accumulation of evidence and the existence of advanced criminal proceedings abroad, the Argentine justice system would have repeatedly failed to adopt basic procedural measures, exposing the state to a potential scenario of international responsibility.Machado was extradited from Argentina and transferred under custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to the United States, where he remains detained in a medium-security federal prison in Oklahoma.Those episodes had immediate political consequences, but the Argentine judicial front never advanced conclusively, a point that is now again under question.According to the complaint filed in La Plata, within the framework of a judicial raid ordered on an accountant linked to a central figure in the case, abundant objective evidence was collected: accounting documentation, digital supports, financial records, and communications.Furthermore, it states that there would be ongoing and advanced foreign investigations for corruption, money laundering, and institutional obstruction, against which the Argentine justice system would not have activated cooperation mechanisms or requested official information.In this context, the filing argues that inaction not only affects a specific case but generates a systemic risk: reputational damage, impact on the financial system, and potential international liability of the Argentine state for failing to meet commitments in the fight against organized crime and money laundering.Among the concrete requests, the complaint demands the immediate summoning of José Luis Espert to give testimony, in order to provide a full explanation of his link to Machado and his knowledge of the facts investigated.In parallel, an “institutional mirror dossier” was attached for control bodies, embassies, and international financial institutions, with the objective of leaving documented record of the case.With Machado already under the custody of the U.S. justice system and with the possibility that he could become a collaborator of the U.S. judicial system, the scenario has changed substantially.It also demands that, based on that instance and the existing evidence, the possibility of a summons for questioning and the adoption of precautionary measures, including preventive detention, be evaluated, due to the institutional gravity of the case and the risk of obstruction of the investigation.The filing also incorporates the preventive recusal of judges Ariel Lijo, Sebastián Casanello, and Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, with the express request that the case not be referred to any of them.In the coming weeks, he will have to choose between cooperating with the U.S. prosecution or facing a trial before a federal jury.The case against him has already established the existence of a financial and aeronautical network used for illicit operations with international reach.In the same case, his partner Debra Lynn Mercer Erwin received a 16-year prison sentence for registering aircraft used for drug trafficking as if they were U.S. civilian aircraft.On the local level, Machado's name maintains a sensitive political connection.Liberal deputy José Luis Espert publicly admitted to having maintained a relationship with him since 2019, including flights on his aircraft and a transfer of 200 thousand dollars that led to an investigation for alleged irregular campaign financing.Buenos Aires, January 26, 2026 – Total News Agency-TNA – The detention and prosecution of Federico “Fred” Machado in the United States has reactivated a high-impact judicial front in Argentina.The complainant asserts that this material exceeds the original scope of the case and compromises third parties who, despite the weight of the evidence gathered, have not been formally incorporated into the file.The document warns that this situation constitutes a state of “free case” incompatible with minimum standards of legality and effective judicial control.
