Powerful Chilean lawyer detained over alleged money laundering and tax fraud

ONE of Chile’s most powerful lawyers was ordered to be detained on Tuesday pending trial on money laundering and tax fraud charges in a case that has rocked the country’s corporate and political elite.
After five days of hearings, a court in the capital accepted the prosecution’s request to transfer criminal lawyer Luis Hermosilla to state custody.
It was the latest development in a high-profile corruption scandal that blew up last November when leaked audio recordings appeared to show Mr Hermosilla telling a former client about bribes he planned to pay officials at Chile’s two main market regulators.
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