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.