New York, December 25, 2025 - Total News Agency - TNA - The prolonged litigation over the expropriation of YPF has escalated again in the United States courts after Burford Capital, the fund financing the lawsuits of Petersen and Eton Park, announced it would ask Judge Loretta Preska to declare Argentina in contempt for failing to comply with judicial orders related to the delivery of key information. Burford's motion is based on the alleged failure of the Argentine state to produce communications—emails and WhatsApp messages—from officials and former officials involved in the case. Former Economy Minister Sergio Massa also did not respond to the judicial request, along with about a dozen other high-ranking officials linked to economic, energy, and political areas. For Burford and the plaintiffs, the requested information is central to substantiating one of the most sensitive lines of the case: the thesis that YPF, Energía Argentina, Aerolíneas Argentinas, the Nación Bank, and the Central Bank function as an 'alter ego' of the Argentine state. Although Argentina still has a formal deadline until January 10 to complete the delivery, the plaintiffs believe the non-compliance is already proven and that the delay is due to a deliberate strategy to obstruct the process. Judge Preska, who has been involved in the case since the merits stage, noted in previous hearings that the country did not respect the originally set deadlines. The government interprets this simultaneity as explaining Burford's offensive, which seeks to accelerate procedural definitions and gain ground for future seizures before Argentina can partially reverse the ruling. Thus, the judicial scenario in New York maintains a high level of uncertainty and financial pressure. With deadlines shortening and potential contempt on the horizon, the YPF case once again exposes the costs of a poorly executed expropriation and the consequences of a defensive strategy that, in the court's opinion, continues to accumulate non-compliance. In this context, Burford was authorized to file the contempt motion between January 15 and March 5, 2026, a clear signal that the court considers the issue serious enough to evaluate coercive measures. Potential contempt would open the door to high-impact consequences for Argentina, including the possibility of seizing assets abroad and imposing additional sanctions that could further complicate the state's defensive strategy in a case that already has an adverse first-instance ruling from the 2012 expropriation. To date, nearly half of the officials and former officials covered by the court order have complied and submitted their communications. Although she granted successive extensions and a final deadline, she warned that refusal or unjustified delay in producing the requested documentation could lead to procedural and economic sanctions, including a contempt finding. At the hearing held on December 9, the magistrate expressly acknowledged Argentina's default and enabled the plaintiffs to advance with a schedule to formalize the motion. Among those who agreed are current and former authorities from key areas such as Treasury, Energy, Transport, and Public Credit, which allowed the plaintiffs to begin analyzing the state's internal decision-making flow regarding YPF and other state-owned companies. However, the focus of the conflict is on the refusal of the main political figures. Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Foreign Minister and former Finance Secretary Pablo Quirno refused to provide communications stored on personal devices or accounts. Under this argument, they seek to demonstrate that different administrations used these entities to execute public policies, which would justify advancing on the assets of these companies in future collection instances. The 'alter ego' case is processed in parallel with the merits appeal, where the appellate court could issue a decision at any time.
