Original article: Hermosilla otra vez al banquillo: SII apunta a $551 millones de perjuicio fiscal por delitos tributarios reiterados

Luis Hermosilla Back in Court: SII Claims $551 Million in Tax Losses from Repeated Offenses

Lawyer Luis Hermosilla, a key figure in the so-called “Audio Case”, faced the justice system again on Monday after being re-indicted for repeated tax offenses, following a new complaint filed against him by the Internal Revenue Service (SII).

The hearing, held at the Santiago Justice Center, focused on the alleged irregularities committed by the lawyer during 2018 and 2019, a period during which he reportedly caused a tax loss exceeding $551 million, which will surpass $800 million by 2026.

According to the SII’s indictment, supported by tax returns and the lawyer’s banking records, in 2018, Hermosilla reportedly earned $471 million but only declared $211 million to the tax authorities. The following year, the discrepancy became even more pronounced: his bank transactions showed $532 million, while his voluntary declaration only reached $306 million.

After hearing the arguments, the court decided to maintain the provisional measures already placed on Hermosilla: nighttime house arrest and national arraigo. Additionally, a new 60-day investigation period was set for this specific part of the case.

According to La Tercera, the formalization occurred under a different unique case role than the Audio-Factop case, as the SII’s complaint was filed just three days before the closure of the main investigation.

Upon exiting the hearing, Luis Hermosilla attempted to downplay the situation. In statements gathered by the outlet, he stated that the proceedings “were quite simple and brief, basically aimed at complementing facts that had already been formalized previously, adding three more years, which is the option that the SII has.”

In his view, the SII “makes a serious mistake” by attributing all income as revenue.

“Not necessarily is that the case. There are loans, third-party funds, and debts that I have assumed. Several factors at play considerably affect the taxable base, lowering it, which is one of the matters that keeps me more at ease and is of lesser significance,” he argued, highlighting that even the modification of his precautionary measures was not discussed.

Fiscal Araya: «I don’t know who could make a $500 million error in a declaration»

In contrast, High Complexity Prosecutor Juan Pablo Araya defended the indictment and emphasized that the lawyer’s declaration “is not an erroneous declaration, it is maliciously false as classified by the Internal Revenue Service, which is the body responsible for tax collection in this country.”

“Therefore, the amounts as well: if you look at them at the dates they occurred, they are 500 million pesos. So I don’t know who could make a mistake of 500 million pesos in a declaration,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Araya announced that the investigation period for the main case of Audio-Factop has been extended by another 90 days, an exceptional resource that can only be used once. The prosecutor explained that there was an agreement with the defenses for this new period, during which they expect to receive responses to 22 outstanding information requests.

With this new legal angle, the legal situation of the controversial lawyer, indicted for tax offenses, bribery, and money laundering, among other economic crimes, is far from resolved and becomes increasingly complex.