The private jet in which Flavio Bolsonaro and his family travelled to Miami is operated by a company embroiled in a corruption scandal that ensnared Argentina's President Javier Milei.
Bolsonaro flew on a Gulfstream operated by Baires Fly SA after crossing into Argentina following his unexpected defeat in Brazil’s presidential run-off on Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear who contracted Baires Fly for the trip. The Trump administration will grant Bolsonaro, his wife and daughters visas allowing them to remain in the US.
The trip puts fresh scrutiny on the company whose manager, Sergio Mastropietro, was accused by Argentine federal prosecutors late last year of playing a role in an alleged kickback scheme involving the country’s disability agency, known as ANDIS.
Mastropietro also has ties to Federico Machado, who is awaiting sentencing in Texas after pleading guilty in the US this year to conspiring to commit money-laundering and wire fraud.
Baires Fly didn’t respond to multiple messages seeking comment.
The ANDIS case erupted into a political crisis for the government in August 2025, when Milei fired the agency’s director after local media published leaked audio in which he allegedly discussed bribes and referred to the president’s sister, Karina Milei. Those involved have denied wrongdoing.
Argentine prosecutors allege Mastropietro issued more than 100 million pesos, then around US$71,000, in invoices through Baires Fly to pharmaceutical companies suspected of participating in a scheme involving inflated prices and kickbacks to officials at the disability agency.
The ties between Mastropietro and Machado date back at least to 2010, when they founded a modelling agency called So Vain SA, according to Argentina’s Official Gazette, which listed both as shareholders. Machado was named president and Mastropietro an alternate director.
US court records show Mastropietro received two wire transfers totakling more than US$800,000 from one of Machado’s US-based companies. The records don’t establish that those transactions were illicit.
Machado was charged in Texas in 2021 with drug-trafficking, money-laundering and financial crimes involving an estimated US$350 million. The drug-trafficking charge was later dropped, and he is scheduled to be sentenced November 10 following his guilty plea on the financial charges.
Machado also wired US$200,000 in 2020 to a Bank of America account belonging to José Luis Espert, who later became one of Milei’s leading candidates in Argentina’s 2025 midterm elections. Espert acknowledged receiving the payment and dropped out of the race weeks before the vote as scrutiny of his ties to Machado intensified.
Milei, who campaigned in support of Bolsonaro, has yet to comment on his ally’s travel through Argentina. His government doesn’t plan to formally recognise the results of Brazil’s election.
by Manuela Tobias & Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg
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