Given the imminent formalization process of Sergio Muñoz, former director of the Investigative Police (PDI), new details emerge regarding the leaks of information to the lawyer Luis Hermosilla. This time, focusing attention on a message forwarded to Andrés Chadwickformer minister and cousin of former president Sebastián Piñera.
As published Cyprusthese leaks translate into at least 12 instances in which the former director of the PDI would have provided details of ongoing investigations to the aforementioned lawyer, who is also being investigated in the case of bribes to SII and CMF officials.
One of the cases mentioned in the leak is the investigation into the sale and purchase of the Dominga mining company, where the then president Sebastián Piñera was involved as a defendant.
As stated The second, Hermosilla received data from Muñoz in October 2021, when his source was already director of the PDI. Muñoz warned him that there would be a request for voluntary surrender to actors involved in the plot of the controversial project.
And Hermosilla, as indicated by the aforementioned media, forwarded the information to Andrés Chadwick around midnight on October 25, who by then was no longer Minister of the Interior. However, this raised doubts both regarding the Dominga case and the appointment of Muñoz to command the PDI.
Muñoz assumed leadership of the PDI in June 2021, following the dismissal of Héctor Espinosa on charges related to embezzlement of public funds and money laundering. Since then, it is suggested that Muñoz would have maintained a constant flow of communication with Hermosilla, even providing him with relevant data just 13 days after his appointment.
It has been stated from Chadwick’s inner circle that he has hardly any ties with Muñoz and that his previous interaction is limited to a chance meeting in the Senate last year.
Lawyer will request reopening of the case
After learning that Luis Hermosilla shared a message with former Minister Chadwick that addressed the investigation in which former President Sebastián Piñera was involved, “The Dominga case is undoubtedly contaminated“said lawyer Luis Mariano Rendón, who in February, after the death of the former president, requested the Seventh Guarantee Court of Santiago to terminate the criminal action due to the death of the defendant.
“Based on this, I will request at the next hearing in May the reopening and in any case, the rejection of the total and definitive dismissal sought by the Prosecutor’s Office,” said the lawyer through his X account.
The Prosecutor’s Office’s request to completely dismiss the case is set for next May 6.
“It may not have just been information leaked,” added Rendón, who suggested that “there could have been intervention so that the PDI did not follow certain threads.” That, according to the plaintiff lawyer in the case of the Dominga mining company, “can explain such a deficient investigation.”
“For this reason, we will oppose the total and definitive dismissal that the Prosecutor’s Office seeks,” he reiterated in a second publication.
In a third publication, lawyer Luis Mariano Rendón shared the news of the message forwarded to former Minister Chadwick and stated: “This is also organized crime and troops are not needed to combat it, only decent criminal procedural institutions.“.
In the case of the Dominga mining company, Sebastián Piñera was investigated for corruption crimes in the sale of the project. However, the former president was not the only one accused. His friend, the businessman, is also accused. Carlos Alberto “Choclo” Délanowho acquired the rights of the Piñera family in the controversial mining project.
This was the cause that brought the most complications to the deceased former president in the last period of his mandate, the one that even led him to face a constitutional accusation that could have made him the first President of the Republic since the return to democracy to leave office. charge for a political trial.
Subsequently, the defense of former President Piñera presented a document to declare his innocence, but not because of his death but because he considered that the facts investigated do not constitute a crime.
Dominga is a mining megaproject in northern Chile that also puts at risk one of the most important ecosystems in the world and where 80% of the Humboldt penguins live.
It is expected that during the first half of this year the justice system will announce its decision on the mining-port initiative that aims to be established in the commune of La Higuera, Coquimbo Region.
Pandora’s Box opens
The socialist deputy Daniel Manouchehri, president of the investigative commission for the so-called “Hermosilla Case” or “Audio Case”, urged a thorough investigation of the role of the former Minister of the Interior of the government of former President Sebastián Piñera in the appointment of the resigned director of the PDI .
This, in the midst of the investigation by the Public Ministry in the case in which Muñoz is involved in the leak of information according to the investigative file. This event caused him to resign from office.
“The ‘Hermosilla Case’ opens a true Pandora’s Box from which extremely serious situations are emerging. Here, information from 12 criminal cases would have been given to favor people who were defended by Mr. Hermosilla or close to him,” Manouchehri said in Al Pan Pan con Mirna Schindler.
“What this case is demonstrating is that Mr. Hermosilla’s tentacles are invisible and powerful. It seems that his judicial success was not due to his legal capacity but rather to his spurious networks,” said deputy Daniel Manouchehri.
The legislator stressed that “it must be investigated. Was there any agreement prior to the appointment of Mr. Muñoz that in just days after being appointed he was already providing information to Mr. Hermosilla? What role did former Minister Chadwick play in all this, in the appointment of Mr. Muñoz and later in these cases?
“Mr. Chadwick was a partner of Mr. Hermosilla in his law firm and also a cousin of former President Sebastián Piñera in cases that also involve people close to Mr. Chadwick. “This situation must be thoroughly investigated, no matter who falls,” he added.
Along these lines, Deputy Manouchehri also indicated that the general director of Carabineros, Ricardo Yáñez, “should step aside” as a consequence of his formalization on May 7 due to his command responsibility in human rights violations in the social outbreak by the police forces. Sayings that support the statements of the Minister of Justice, Luis Cordero, on this topic.
“While it is true, the case of Mr. Muñoz and General Yáñez are different in that in one there would be personal involvement and in the other with respect to his role in command of the institution, it is extremely complex to have a formalized general director, since the Mr. Yáñez should step aside,” he indicated.
Muñoz’s voluntary statement
Today, at 4 p.m., Sergio Muñoz appeared before the eastern regional prosecutor, Lorena Parra, within the framework of the investigation for violation of secrecy. This, prior to the formalization of Muñoz this Tuesday at nine in the morning, where precautionary measures such as preventive detention could be requested.
Muñoz seeks to collaborate with the investigation by acknowledging the authorship of the messages. Accompanied by his lawyer, Juan Carlos Manríquez, the former police chief also faces charges related to leaks in cases such as that of former mayor Felipe Guevara and former PDI director Héctor Espinosa, with possible serious legal consequences under the Money Laundering Law. Assets.
According to the defense, Muñoz’s legal strategy consists of arguing that he did not reveal strategic information, but rather administrative details of the investigations, leaving open the possibility of an acquittal if the courts determine that there was no violation of secrecy. This tactic is based on precedents such as the case of the O’Higgins regional prosecutor, Emiliano Arias, who was acquitted of similar charges on two occasions.
“Today what Mr. Muñoz has done is assume facts”
After the statement that lasted nearly four hours, Muñoz’s lawyer, Manríquez, spoke to the press to indicate that his client acknowledged the communications with Hermosilla due to “some investigations”, but that this “did not harm any of the cases.”
“Indeed, none of them caused any damage in any investigation. All were completed satisfactorily. The procedures were done. The prosecutors who have testified in the investigation in charge of these investigations say that they did not detect any damage in their own investigations and those are very valuable facts,” said Manríquez.
The defense lawyer said that the relationship between Hermosilla and Muñoz is undeniable, something that was recognized before the Public Ministry, but that they will wait for the formalization this Tuesday to define a strategy.
“What has been said and what has been asked and answered is the entire context and reason for these communications and why, in addition, these communications were actually maintained. That accounts for at least a relationship, let’s say, epistolary through electronic media that is objective and that cannot be denied,” Manríquez mentioned.
“Today what Mr. Muñoz has done is assume facts, the legal qualification will correspond to the judges,” added the lawyer.
