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.
Mr Hermosilla has denied all charges, but he isn’t disputing the authenticity of the recording. His lawyer this week said he was manipulated” into discussing the illicit payments.
The wider investigation has entangled judges, politicians and prominent businessmen, shocking the country and threatening to stain Chile’s long-standing reputation as a darling of international finance institutions.
Also on Tuesday, the court charged another Chilean lawyer, Maria Leonarda Villalobos, and her husband, Luis Angulo, with money laundering and tax crimes in the same case.
Both deny the allegations.
The judge ordered Mr Hermosilla and Ms Villalobos to be held pending trial, citing “a serious and well-founded suspicion that the accused might obstruct the investigation.”
Mr Angulo was placed under nightly house arrest.
The audio recording was first revealed by the investigative news outlet Ciper Chile, which said it was made during a meeting earlier last year involving Mr Hermosilla, Ms Villalobos, then an unknown lawyer, and businessman Daniel Sauer. The latter’s brokerage firm was under investigation for fraud by Chile’s financial regulator.
The conversation focused on the possible payment of bribes to officials at Chile’s tax authority and financial regulator as a way to resolve Mr Sauer’s legal problems.
Mr Sauer, his brother and his business partner were charged with fraud earlier this year in the case. They have denied wrongdoing.
