Constitutional Accusation Filed Against Supreme Court Minister Diego Simpertigue for Breaches of Integrity

Original article: Por «faltas a la probidad»: Presentan Acusación Constitucional contra ministro de la Corte Suprema, Diego Simpertigue

Members of the Chilean Parliament, including deputies Mónica Arce (IND), Maite Orsini, Álvaro Carter (Rep), Cosme Mellado (Radical), and Marco Antonio Sulantay (UDI), have been randomly selected to serve on the committee responsible for reviewing the Constitutional Accusation filed against Supreme Court Minister Diego Simpertigue Limare. This accusation cites breaches of integrity and a significant neglect of duties.

The accusation was put forth by deputies Arturo Barrios (PS), Daniella Cicardini (PS), Luis Cuello (PC), Ana María Gazmuri (AH), Daniel Manouchehri (PS), Daniel Melo (PS), Emilia Nuyado (PS), Lorena Pizarro (PC), Matías Ramírez (PC), Leonardo Soto (PS), and Carolina Tello (FA).

«Starting today, there is a three-day deadline for the Chamber to notify the Supreme Court Minister personally or via official letter,» the legislative bulletin stated. They further noted that «after being notified, Simpertigue will have 10 days to respond to the committee regarding the accusation, either in person or in writing.»

Subsequently, the special committee has six days to examine the accusation and provide a decision, which will be forwarded to the Chamber’s plenary session.

What Does the Accusation Include?

The accusatory document consists of three main sections.

The first section asserts that the minister significantly breached his duty of integrity, abstention, and impartiality in relation to the BelAz Movitec case. It claims that Simpertigue directly intervened in rulings connected to the Belarusian consortium, resulting in Supreme Court decisions that favored the consortium with amounts exceeding 11 billion pesos. This occurred during a period when he maintained substantial personal ties with lawyers for that party—Eduardo Lagos Herrera and Mario Vargas Cociña—who are currently implicated in crimes of bribery and money laundering in the ‘Belarusian branch’ of the Audios Case.

The second section charges him with gross neglect of his integrity duties due to conflicts of interest in notarial appointments. This is based on the fact that the controversial minister «allowed his stepson to be appointed as an interim notary at one of the most lucrative notaries in the jurisdiction while he was evaluating and supervising the Court of Appeals in San Miguel, a decision made by the same authority he was supposed to oversee.»

The third section accuses him of violating the duties of abstention, impartiality, and integrity concerning the Fundamenta case. In this regard, the Supreme Court Minister allegedly participated in resolving the case concerning the EcoEgaña project, which benefited Inmobiliaria Fundamenta. Shortly afterwards, he reportedly took a cruise with lawyers Lagos and Vargas.

«The temporal proximity between the ruling, the questioned payments, and the shared trip between the minister and the linked lawyers reinforces the existence of a close and sustained social connection,» states the accusation text.

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