Original article: “Ahí tiene plata”: Manouchehri le tira $10 mil en la cara a diputado Araya en medio de explicaciones por nexo con Yáber
Tense Confrontation as Manouchehri Throws $10,000 at Araya Amid Controversy Over Ties to Yáber
A heated incident unfolded during a press conference with Cristián Araya, a deputy from the Republican Party, who was explaining his connections with the suspended real estate conservator of Puente Alto, Sergio Yáber. In a startling moment, fellow parliamentarian Daniel Manouchehri from the Socialist Party threw a $10,000 bill at Araya’s face.
It’s important to note that a report released on November 19 revealed intercepted phone calls from October by the Carabineros’ OS7 unit involving Yáber, a key figure in the «Bielorrussian Doll» case, which stated that he had allegedly given Araya—brother of Carolina Araya, chief of staff for the Republican presidential candidate José Antonio Kast—a sum of $1.7 million.
This exchange reportedly occurred during a critical time when Congress was discussing the future of the impeachment accusation against former minister of the Santiago Court of Appeals Antonio Ulloa, who was connected to lawyer Luis Hermosilla, implicated in tax crimes, bribery, and money laundering within the «Audio Case». Hermosilla maintained a network of influence across significant political, judicial, and business players in Chile.
In a discussion with his wife about a meeting with the deputy, Yáber mentioned that he intended to seek Araya’s support to clear Ulloa from impeachment charges.
Another intercepted call revealed that Araya had sent Yáber information via WhatsApp regarding Manouchehri, who was a proponent of the impeachment against Ulloa, suggesting that this information was to be used to orchestrate a «media strike» against them.
Additionally, the conversations mentioned socialist deputy Daniella Cicardini and potential evidence aimed at damaging her reputation.
Araya Addresses Links with Yáber
During the press conference, Araya refused to take questions, sticking to his narrative of how he knew the suspended conservator, explaining their acquaintance began in 2024 when he, as a firefighter, helped Yáber following an accident.
“In October 2025, Mr. Yáber contacted me and invited me to dinner at his house regarding my re-election campaign as a deputy, an invitation I accepted. Present at the dinner were Mr. Yáber and (Víctor) Valech. Mr. Yáber expressed his gratitude for my rescue efforts, and we discussed politics, elections, current events, and at some point, my campaign,” he told reporters.
He also claimed he never received «a single peso» from Yáber and denied orchestrating any favors for Ulloa.
“I want to make this very clear. I have never received a peso from Mr. Yáber or Mr. Valech, and I cannot be responsible for what third parties might say in a conversation I am not present in,” he declared.
“These individuals also did not ask me to intervene on behalf of Mr. (Antonio) Ulloa or to vote in my defense. I must be very emphatic; I do not know Mr. Ulloa. I have never seen him. I have no particular sympathy for him. In fact, he voted in favor of removing the statue of Admiral Merino. You can understand that this is not something I feel fondly about. So, I believe this needs to be made very clear. I have no affiliation with Mr. Ulloa,” the deputy asserted, as reported by La Tercera.
Moreover, during his remarks, he addressed the «interception» where Yáber stated that he had received some information from Araya regarding Manouchehri, who is pursuing impeachment against the former minister Ulloa.
According to Araya, during his meeting with Yáber in October this year, “at some point, the deputy Manouchehri was mentioned, as was seen in the press. At that time, I forwarded a document to him, which was a compilation of information that I did not assign much importance to and asked for his opinion on.”
“A document, essentially notes, all public just so you know, regarding deputy Manouchehri. Nothing more than that, to avoid any conspiracy theories surrounding an extensive investigation or anything like that, and I can say this here to clarify it for the deputy,” he remarked.
Manouchehri to Araya: «Here’s your money»
After being mentioned, socialist parliamentarian Manouchehri approached the podium where Araya was speaking and threw a $10,000 bill at him, stating: “Here’s your money, if you want it.”
“Look, one can have several differences, and that is unacceptable,” retorted Araya.
The tense exchange was captured in a video that circulated on social media.
«It’s scandalous that the Republican Party protects Araya»
Manouchehri acknowledged that he “made a mistake” by throwing the $10,000 at Araya. However, he added this was done with significant irony, stating that the amount he flung was far less than the $1.7 million mentioned by Yáber in the phone interception.
“I believe I made a mistake throwing $10,000 at deputy Araya because I actually needed $1,690,000 more than what I threw,” he stated in a video shared on social media.
“What Deputy Araya did to us was an act of limitless cowardice. He was seeking information, put together a dossier to harm us precisely for pursuing corruption networks. He provides that information to a corruption network to defame us. We find that extremely serious and scandalous; moreover, Mr. Yáber states in the phone interceptions that he gave $1.7 million to Deputy Araya,” he asserted.
The socialist parliamentarian criticized the Republican Party for allegedly shielding Araya and for not suspending his membership in light of the grave allegations.
“That is not the caliber of congressmen that Chile deserves, and it is quite scandalous that the Republican Party, having all this information, protects deputy Araya, that they have not suspended his membership and have not withdrawn him from today while offering themselves for the investigation. Instead, they are covering him up,” he argued.
“For Republicans and (José Antonio) Kast, what is scandalous is throwing a bill. The real scandal is that their deputy is mentioned in an OS-7 interception receiving money from a corruption network. They assembled an ordinary dossier and handed it to that network to defame us, and now they pretend to be the victims,” he added in the message accompanying the video.
The socialist legislator made it clear that political operations against him and Cicardini do not intimidate them in their anti-corruption actions and noted that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed it will investigate Deputy Cristian Araya, as they requested.
