By Diego Feijó de Abreu
This article originally ran in Revista Fórum, has been translated by Panamerican Dispatch with express authorization of the editor-in-chief, and can be read in its original Portuguese here.
The private jet Flávio Bolsonaro used to leave Brazil after his election loss to Lula belongs to the fleet of Baires Fly, an Argentine company linked to a businessman who had business dealings with Federico “Fred” Machado, who faces drug trafficking charges in the United States. The company also appears in a corruption investigation involving funds intended for people with disabilities under Javier Milei’s government.
Fórum Investiga, Revista Fórum’s investigative unit, identified these connections through court documents and public records in Argentina and the United States. Sergio Daniel Mastropietro, a business intermediary for Baires Fly, was Machado’s business partner and currently faces charges of money laundering and criminal association in Argentina’s National Disability Agency (ANDIS) scandal.
The company’s involvement drew attention after the Argentine government confirmed early Wednesday that Bolsonaro had entered the country with his wife and two daughters and boarded a private Baires Fly flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador.
According to Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration, the family crossed the border via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, between Foz do Iguaçu and Puerto Iguazú, at 10:50 p.m. on Tuesday. They boarded the plane at 11:30 p.m., and the aircraft, a Gulfstream G400 registered as LV-JQW, took off at 12:22 a.m. Wednesday.
The trip came after Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro’s passports seized and barred him from leaving Brazil. Revista Fórum has been tracking developments in the senator’s flight since the first reports emerged from Argentina.
The Link to a Man Accused of Drug Trafficking
The drug trafficking connection runs through Federico Andrés Machado, known as Fred Machado, an Argentine businessman in the aviation industry who was accused of participating in an international organization tied to cocaine trafficking and money laundering in the United States.
Machado was business partners with Sergio Mastropietro at SO VAIN S.A., a company founded in 2010 for aviation related ventures. Argentine investigations have also documented joint trips, business ties and a shared address between the two men in Buenos Aires.
In February 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments against eight people for taking part in an international scheme involving drug trafficking, money laundering and financial fraud.
Machado was among those charged, identified as an operator in buying and selling aircraft through his company, South Aviation. The investigation involved a network that used U.S. registered planes, some of which were seized in other countries carrying large shipments of cocaine.
Machado was extradited from Argentina in November 2025 and later negotiated a plea bargain with U.S. prosecutors. In August 2026, a federal court in Texas found him guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud. The original drug trafficking charge was dropped as part of that plea deal.
Machado’s business relationship is with Mastropietro, not directly with Baires Fly. The company’s formal owner is Luis Grande, who has worked in Argentina’s executive aviation industry for decades.
Company Received Money From People Under Investigation for Corruption in the Milei Government
The other scandal involving Baires Fly centers on ANDIS, the agency responsible for assistance to people with disabilities in Argentina. That investigation is examining suspected contract steering, overbilling, bribery and money laundering during Milei’s administration.
According to documents from the investigation led by federal prosecutor Franco Picardi, two ANDIS suppliers, Prolite Orthopedics and Probock, transferred 95.06 million Argentine pesos to a Baires Fly bank account on September 10, 2025. That amount is roughly $62,000, based on exchange rates as of October 28, 2026.
The payments came after Mastropietro sent the company’s banking information to Miguel Ángel Calvete, identified as one of the operators behind the scheme under investigation. Following those transfers, invoices were issued for the advance purchase of flight hours for use on the company’s aircraft.
Investigators suspect these commercial transactions were used to give a legal appearance to funds originating from improper public contracts.
Financial tracing uncovered even larger sums. Documents reviewed by Argentine courts found that Baires Fly billed around 1.097 billion pesos, about $720,000, to five companies tied to the contracts under investigation between 2023 and 2025. That figure represents recorded business transactions, not an amount fully confirmed as embezzled funds.
On October 16, federal judge Ariel Lijo ordered formal charges against Mastropietro on suspicion of aggravated money laundering and criminal association. The ruling also expanded charges against Diego Spagnuolo, ANDIS’ former director and a former Milei ally, along with other alleged participants in the scheme.
Argentina’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office said the investigation uncovered suspected fraud in contracts for medication, prosthetics and equipment intended for beneficiaries of assistance programs.
Baires Fly Transported Both Flávio Bolsonaro and Javier Milei
The airline maintains business ties with figures in Argentine politics. In November 2023, days after winning the presidential election, Javier Milei used a Baires Fly aircraft to travel to the United States. Luis Grande, the company’s owner, piloted that flight.
In the ANDIS investigation, Mastropietro denied managing or formally being part of Baires Fly and said he acted only as an intermediary in arranging aviation services. The company, for its part, disputed any association with the money laundering allegations.
These connections also draw attention given Donald Trump’s policy of citing the fight against so called “narcoterrorism” as one justification for expanding U.S. action against criminal organizations in Latin America.
This case brings together a company that transported Bolsonaro after a court order barred him from leaving Brazil, financial transactions under investigation in the Milei government’s corruption scandal, and the business history of an intermediary linked to a man previously accused of drug trafficking in the United States.
The documents do not show that Bolsonaro was involved in the ANDIS scheme or in any drug trafficking activity. Nor is there evidence that Fred Machado had any role in arranging the flight.
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