copada agenda of meetings of the Prosecutor National, Jorge Abbott, has become a real headache for him. Encounters with the former Senator and current Minister of Justice, Hernán Larraín, ended up giving life to a removal request against, which is currently in process in the Supreme Court. The appointed judge to see the request made by members of opposition is Héctor Carreño, who will receive the 28 and 29 August to both parties for audiences.
More than one week ago, a group of parliamentarians explained that there are nine meetings held between trade then-Senator, Jorge Abbott, since he took office as the maximum authority of the public prosecutor’s Office in December 2015. Quotations list is diverse, ranging from the “rights of the victims of the Maule Region”, agenda cutting pension, the draft law anti-collusion, the law, the situation of the UDI Iván Moreira Senator – who was disbarred by the case of Penta-, more two meetings that have no record of issue.
At the counter, we reviewed in detail the public agenda of meetings and meetings of the national prosecutor. On the page of the public prosecutor’s Office, realizes that the encounters with Larraín aren’t the only ones on the Penta case, but that Abbott also held two meetings with other attorneys representing in the case. In addition, appears an appointment with representatives of Sebastián Dávalos, and Natalia Compagnon by Caval case lawyers, until “business” meetings in August 2017 with Cristián Zegers, director of El Mercurio, and another of the same tenor with two Executive of Copesa (daily the) Third) in January this year, any of the two registered under the law of Lobby, and distinct records by journalistic interviews.
The meeting with Guerra one of the arguments from the request of removal against the Prosecutor Abbott, lies in their disqualification in the Penta case, due to his kinship with the current Minister Alfredo Moreno, who took charge of the holding company when its owners, Carlos Alberto Delano and Carlos Eugenio Lavín, had to take a step to the side. During his campaign national prosecutor, Abbott committed itself to not get involved in the case, but in its defence document, filed with the Supreme Court, made it clear he was referring to not take the direction of the referred case.
Abbott received two requests to expedite the case against Senator Moreira before that she will close the case Penta. One from the Senate and a part of Larraín, who asked him in person the streamlining of this cause, arguing that the impeachment of the parliamentary affected the representation in the upper House.
According to the defense of the National Fiscal document, December 27, 2017, Abbott sent a trade to the Senate, responding to the request made by the Vice-President of the Senate, Guido Girardi, who asked, on behalf of Senators Allamand and Larraín, accelerate the cause of the runaway Senator Moreira. The document details that Abbott rejected the request, since it was not within its competence, and derived the requirement to the Marauder in charge of the case, Manuel Guerra.
The head of the public prosecutor’s Office says that war, “in use of its exclusive powers and without any intervention on my part”, decided to request a hearing for the conditional suspension of the procedure for Moreira. What does not mention Abbott is that, days after simply send the request of the Senate tax war, both met.
On their agenda, Abbott recorded only four meetings with the Metropolitan East Regional Prosecutor, two of them matches at public events. The other two respond to so-called meetings of ‘work’, the first set of December 29, 2017, two days after send you the request to war, although that meeting was not held. The appointment finally materialized January 2, 2018, 09:30 hours, in the national prosecutor’s Office, while in the public agenda of Abbott is detail the reason for the meeting, and 13 days later, January 15, 2018, Guerra requested the Court 8 ° of warranty cond suspension icional of the cause against Moreira, which was received by the Court on 30 July.
In a conversation with El Mostrador, the fiscal war said that “I don’t remember the context and what” meeting with Abbott, but added that it meets often with him. He said “it may be that it was on the occasion of the public account of the metropolitan regional prosecutors in those days”. That account was held January 4, 2018 and was in charge of Prosecutor Regional metropolitan centre-north, Andrés Montes, who figured out the balance sheets of the four prosecutors.
Concerning the request of the Senate, Guerra explained that Abbott “referred me that communication via trade and I do not remember if I phoned to tell me about it. But meeting the theme did not have. In all it’s Penta, he (Abbott) was reduced to forward information without requiring anything in return”and then added that the office of the Senate, did not answer”because I felt that it was not appropriate that they asked quickly in a case in which they are part, don’t know if there will be registration”.
The fiscal war highlighted that “in due course coordination meetings were made with all the regional prosecutors who had called cases of financing policy, Contardo, Gomez and I, along with Marta Herrera and the national prosecutor. “These meetings were looking for that we reported the progress of cases, also participated the head of the unit of laundering and economic crimes, Mauricio Fernández”. Of these meetings do not exite registration in the public agenda of Abbott.
War must send all communications with the Abbott attorney to the Supreme Court, and declared to the judge Carreño, “since my statement was requested by the requesting and also by the national prosecutor”.
It should be noted that, when reviewing the agenda of each Regional Public Prosecutor and the national prosecutor, are not observed recurring meetings between Abbott and his subordinates. In December 2017, it held a single meeting with the Prosecutor of Tarapacá, while January 2018 were five meetings with regional prosecutors, including the meeting with war and a, day 4, with the Regional Prosecutor of La Araucanía, Cristian walls.
Other meetings by Penta Abbott has met with other incumbents in the Penta case. Known are the meetings – under the law of Lobby – which has had with case Penta, Rodrigo Zegers and Samuel Donoso, defense lawyers in the case SQM.
April 11, 2016, Zegers, lawyer representative of Santiago Valdés, involved in the case, Penta, met with Abbott for 45 minutes. As recorded in the file of the Lobby law, there was no one more on that occasion and the reason was the “involvement of the right of defence which would be suffering his represented, as a result of the decision of separation of investigation of cases referred to as Penta and SQM” based in Valparaiso and Prosecutor’s Office Regional Metropolitan East Regional Prosecutor respectively.”
The meeting with Zegers occurs days after that Valdes made use of their right to remain silent before the prosecutors carrying case Penta. April 7, 2016, the former electoral Manager Sebastián Piñera reached the local prosecution of Ñuñoa and refused to testify. The former manager of Finance of Bancard had been formalized by having signed the contracts forwards Bancard. He was also who signed a contract of consultants between Bancard and SQM for $340 million.
The other meeting is already known and is included in the request of removal against the head of the public prosecutor’s Office. January 20, 2017, Abbott joined Donoso, lawyer Patricio Contesse, and again with Zegers, occasion in which if present were members of the Prosecutor’s Office, Marta Herrera and Mauricio Fernández. The goal was the unification of the Penta and SQM causes, so that they remain under the tutelage of the Gómez Prosecutor, explained Abbott defense before the Supreme. The national prosecutor said that if replied to the request of the lawyer for Valdes, but with a negative.
There are other meetings by Penta linked with Moreira and the former presidential candidate of the right, Laurence Golborne. It’s two hearings listed under the Lobby law, Luis Enrique Yarur King, Chairman of the BCI, who acknowledged having made a contribution from your personal account – without ballot – of $20 million related to the UDI Senator and that the Bank made contributions to the campaign of Golborne, paying for services not rendered to two agencies from a friend of the former standard bearer.
In May of this year, La Tercera published that Yarur King, Cristian Muga and Rodrigo Aldoney, attorneys would have met separately in 2016 Abbott. On 27 May of that year, Muga did for an hour alone with the national prosecutor and the record of the reason for the meeting, that is incomplete, it says that it is due to causes “.. .administrativas related to research in the Regional Prosecutor’s Office” Metropolitan East affecting rights of… “.” But detailing the Yarur name in the notes.
A month later, on June 29, Golborne was formalized by the prosecution. Between tests, the Declaration of Yarur was detailed before the internal revenue service: “there are cases in which yes I can link the political contribution, which is the case of two companies: Vox communications and VSA.” Both link them requests I conducted for the presidential campaign of don Laurence Golborne, who asked me and facilitated these invoices”, stated the Chairman of the Board of BCI, who added that it was Golborne who directly led the Bills.
Lawyer Muga arrived for the second time to the Abbott Office of August 23, 2016, this time accompanied by lawyers grace and Luis Ortiz. As detailed under law of Lobby registration, do not attend more officials of the Ministerio public, apart from the national prosecutor. The meeting–which lasted an hour – was actually about Yarur and Penta case, due to”administrative investigation followed in the Metropolitan Regional Office East-related affecting rights of its represented”, details the record of the Marauder organism.
Efforts by Caval and La Araucanía Compagnon y Davalos by the Caval case lawyers also left their mark on the agenda of the national prosecutor. In March, the defense of the daughter-in-law of the former President, Michelle Bachelet, launched an onslaught against the prosecutors in charge of the case, Sergio Moya and Emiliano Arias.
On August 8, according to La Tercera, lawyer Tomás Martínez joined a letter to the Prosecutor’s Office, which was intended to apply to the national prosecutor the debarment of Arias and Moya in the case. In addition, Compagnon presented two complaints against the perecutores conditional threats and violation of secrecy.
But the onslaught did not remain only on paper. March 21, 2018, the same day that the Supreme Court would review the dismissal of Dávalos, regarding the main cause of the Caval case, his lawyer, Carlos Fierro, and Martinez, they arrived to the national prosecutor’s Office on behalf of Compagnon, as it detailed the agenda of Abbott .
The meeting was recorded via Lobby law and was made in the company of other officials of the public prosecutor’s Office. According to the page of the Prosecutor’s Office, the purpose of the meeting – which was extended by 23 minutes – was to seek “disability tax Sergio Moya and Emiliano Arias, presented March 08, 2018, in parts of the national prosecutor office , in reference to the history of the RUC cause 1500166033-8 – case Caval-“.” At the meeting, accompanied to the national prosecutor specialised anti-corruption unit, Hernán Fernández, Deputy Director and Chief of staff, Mauricio Salinas Chaud.
That same day, Davalos offered apologies to the national prosecutor and the prosecutors Association, because of his criticisms of the work carried out by the public prosecutor’s Office, although he kept his words for the public prosecutor in Rancagua, which – according to him – “has not fulfilled the due process”.
In parallel, was unleashed another controversy by the case, then the failed appointment of the former Prosecutor in the case of Caval, Luis Toledo as a notary in the municipality of San Fernando, by former Minister of Justice and DD to emerge. HH., Jaime fields. A week later, on 28 March, the Supreme upheld the dismissal of Davalos along the main ridge of the case, but the Court’s guarantee of Rancagua rejected final dismissal by prescription for him, on the ridge by the scam to the businessman Gonzalo Vial shell. The regional court also kept precautionary them Compagnon.
Other meetings that draw attention on the agenda of Jorge Abbott, have to do with cases of high public connotation in La Araucanía. The national prosecutor met with the Minister of the Interior, Andrés Chadwick, and the Attorney for the Government, Luis Hermosilla, February 7, 2018, a month before he assumed the Presidency of the Republic, Sebastián Piñera. According to details of the agenda, the meeting was held in Vitacura, commune where Hermosilla has its office. The objective of the meeting, not identified under the Lobby law, was the coordination of cases Luchsinger-Mackay and churches, which were still in the process earlier this year.
Another case dealt with by the national prosecutor is the operation hurricane. On 19 February this year, Abbott met with the legal head of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Luis Correa, and the lawyer of the Intendencia of La Araucania, Matías Moya, in the last days of the Government of Bachelet.
The meeting took place amid tensions between prosecutors carrying case and Government representatives. At the hearing of February 9, an intense exchange of accusations was experienced with the high complexity of the Araucanía, Felipe González, Attorney who accused “negligence” and lack of interest by Moya in the case. Act followed, on 12 February, the previous Government announced that would appeal to the closure of the operation Hurricane cause, which was shut down on behalf of the 11 comuneros mapuche defendants therein, and that it would present a complaint against the judge, Federico Gutiérrez, resource who refused to reopen the case.
The deployment of Moya, who worked directly with Abbott during his tenure by the public prosecutor’s Office, was questioned in the press and the struggle between both regional powers intensified, pee to the same national prosecutor dismissed the tensions to beginning of February. It is in this context that Abbott met with Moya and belt, at 15:30 hrs. in the national prosecutor’s Office. According to a short excerpt from the third to the meeting details, would have not talked about the Government’s announcements.
Gag law another theme which was treated by then Senator Larraín and Abbott is the “law short pension”, filed between 2015 and 2016 by Congress. According to the detailed agenda of the national prosecutor, 16 February 2016, both met to “tackle” the project entered the administration of Bachelet. The meeting was at 9 in the morning, in units of the national prosecutor’s Office, but does not have a registration under the Act of Lobby.
While Congress was in recess period and that Abbott had returned had a month to work after suffering a myocardial infarction, both officials met to discuss a strategic Act for the so-called doctrine of Abbott and overriding importance for the right in Congress. On 27 January 2015, the Bachelet government joined the initiative that sought to improve the conditions of research of the so-called “crimes of social connotation”, and give them greater powers to the PDI, police and the Prosecutor’s Office, and among whose measures more controversial was the preventive Control of identity and the so-called “gag law”.
January 28, 2016, the then Minister of the Interior, Jorge Burgos (DC), entered a series of directions to the project which was in the Committee on the Constitution of the Senate, after being approved by the Chamber of Deputies. Among these was an indication to the article N ° 12 of the Act, which established that the civil servants, experts and people who have access to the investigations and proceedings by the public prosecutor and courts “are obliged to keep secret of the” same”. It added that persons violating the secret “shall be punished with the penalty of fine of twenty to two hundred monthly tax units or less in their minimum prison”.
The amendment was seen as a clear signal against leaks that visibilizaron cases of irregular financing of politics in the press, reason why the prosecutors Association and the College of journalists were against the so-called “law “Gag”. He then Minister Burgos said that the indication was generated to request of the Ministry public.
Abbott, along with his Deputy, Montes, and the then Minister of Justice, Javiera Blanco, intervened on several occasions in support of the indication, both in the Senate Constitution Committee and in the Joint Committee, as described in the reports of both instances.
Key Senators who became part of the crusade include Alberto Espina (RN), the then President of the Commission, Alfonso de Urresti (PS), the Larraín Senator, while his counterpart Felipe Harboe (PPD) acted “in the background”, detailed sources from the Senate. He role of Larraín was “important in the Commission”, recalls a former advisor of the camera high. The current Minister of Justice was a member of the Commission and, according to the final report of the instance, advocated the toughening of sentences to those who leaked and disclose information.
Days before the vote on the Bill in the Senate Chamber, carried out April 5, 2016, the national prosecutor had two meetings with Senators, members of the Commission, who were in favour of the indication. The first was with Thorn, April 1, at 13:00 hrs., in the Prosecutor’s Office, which is registered on the agenda of Abbott and details that it is “to address project short agenda”. The other was with Larraín, a day before the vote, April 4, at 8:30 a.m., also in the building of the public prosecutor’s Office.
The next day, the indication was adopted by 20 votes to 14 in the Senate. Larrain and thorn kept their positions in the discussion in room. At the meeting of the 16:00 hrs., the current holder of the portfolio of Justice stated that “there is no justification” to interpret an “attempt to put a gag law, hide from the powerful, or any thing of that nature”. Despite attempts to approve the indication, this ended up being rejected in the Joint Committee, May 9, 2016.
But the “antifiltraciones” of Abbott onslaught did not stay there. In December 2016, the national prosecutor, implemented a new instructional communications to the public prosecutor’s Office. In the letter, sent to all prosecutors in the country, sets a policy antifiltraciones, stressing that all communications concerning cases investigated must pass through the central communications equipment as well as prohibiting the disclosure of information by prosecutors concerning cases. The missive described the leaks as “acts of corruption”.
It should be noted that the Lobby law regulates meetings and hearings requested by “lobbyists and special interests managers”, having objective influencing a public decision. In this case, it does not regulate the meetings between the national prosecutor and other authorities with respect to the short pension law, since interpreted that Abbott made efforts as an authority acting in pursuit of the common good and not in favor of a personal stance.
