The Argentine government has requested Judge Loretta Preska to extend the deadline until November 21 for Argentine officials to provide information about their chats and electronic communications as part of the case that seeks to establish connections to obtain funds for the payment of the sentence. “The hearing was already set for November 4. What we did was file a request to extend that deadline to November 21, which may or may not happen,” official sources stated. They added that Argentina's position is “to cooperate in obtaining the consent of these 35 officials and former officials to provide communications.” The judge's request is part of the discovery process requested by the investment fund Burford Capital (the beneficiary of the $16 billion ruling) and has the legal objective of proving that the Argentine Republic and the oil company YPF are the same entity, a concept known as 'alter ego'. The original ruling condemned the Republic to pay over $16 billion but exempted YPF from liability. If alter ego is proven, the plaintiffs could enable the seizure of YPF's assets and other state-owned companies (such as the Central Bank, Aerolíneas Argentinas, or ENARSA) to secure the collection of the judgment. The judicial order seeks messages, including platforms like WhatsApp, that suggest officials used unofficial channels to issue directives, interfere in fuel prices, or control the management of YPF, acting in the state's interest and not as an independent anonymous society.
