Ex-lawmaker Espert summoned for questioning in $200,000 money laundering probe

Former congressman José Luis Espert faces a judicial summons for questioning in a money laundering investigation. Federal Judge Lino Mirabelli has ordered Espert to appear on Tuesday to address accusations of legitimizing $200,000 received from Federico “Fred” Machado, allegedly linked to a transnational criminal organization.

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the contract with a Guatemalan mining company with which Espert sought to justify the $200,000 he received from the convicted Federico “Fred” Machado is a simulation.

Prosecutors accuse Espert of attempting to launder the funds through the purchase of a BMW and a Lexus for $130,000 and an investment in a trust in Costa Esmeralda. The prosecution views the contract Espert presented, which supposedly justified the funds as payment for consulting services to a Guatemalan mining company, as a simulation. This contract, allegedly signed after the money transfer, is suspected to have been created solely to give the money a legal appearance.

Espert initially did not declare the $200,000 but later acknowledged receiving it from Machado. He stated the funds were part of a $1 million contract signed before the 2019 campaign for alleged consulting work in Guatemala. Investigators, however, suspect this work never existed. Last year, Espert’s home was searched, and his assets were frozen. The key question in the case is whether Espert knew the illegal origin of the funds he received.

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Espert was the victim of an infamous media operation.

The funds were transferred in January 2020 from an account linked to Machado. Prosecutors allege the money has illicit origins and connections to an organization investigated in the United States for fraud and money laundering. Espert's accountant, Mariano Cosentino, who allegedly advised on how to incorporate the money into Espert's tax declarations, has also been summoned for questioning.

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the contract would have been signed after the transfer of the dollars and solely for the purpose of giving the money the appearance of legality.