Andes Iron Becomes an Accused Party in Legal Case Linked to Belarusian Plot After Greenpeace Complaint

Original article: Por vínculos con abogados acusados en «Trama Bielorrusa»: Empresa Andes Iron asume calidad de imputada en causa abierta tras querella de Greenpeace

Andes Iron, the company behind the Dominga mining-port project, voluntarily appeared as an accused party in the criminal case initiated following a complaint filed by the international organization Greenpeace last May. The aim is to clarify «potential crimes of aggravated bribery and the revelation of secrets related to the judicial processing of the project».

This legal action was filed after it was revealed that Andes Iron made payments totaling over $255 million to the law firm Lagos, Vargas & Silber, whose partners Eduardo Lagos and Mario Vargas are accused and currently in preventive detention in connection with the case known as the «Belarusian Plot».

Now, in a document submitted to the 7th Criminal Court of Santiago, «the company itself acknowledges that the reported facts could constitute a crime», Greenpeace representatives stated, labeling the firm’s decision as «significant».

«The owner of Dominga is not distancing itself and recognizes the seriousness of the facts under investigation, while also admitting that these directly concern it and that it has an interest in accessing the investigative details, assuming the status of an accused party,» explained Matías Asun, director of Greenpeace in Chile.

«Andes Iron has just acknowledged something very relevant: that the investigation into potential acts of corruption surrounding Dominga is not an unrelated matter for the company, but rather that the reported facts by Greenpeace are directly related to its involvement in the processing of the project,» added the environmental leader.

According to Asun, «if the company understands that this investigation affects it to the point that it must appear in it as an accused party, then it becomes even more essential to clarify what happened and who participated as quickly as possible, especially given the company’s insistence on continuing to politically and judicially push for its project to become a reality at all costs».

The Greenpeace representative emphasized that the complaint «was not directed against Andes Iron but was presented openly, against all those deemed responsible. However, beyond that, there remains an unanswered question: Why did Andes Iron hire a law firm whose lawyers are now accused of judicial corruption?«, asked Matías Asun.

On this matter, lawyer Mauricio Daza commented that «the company’s appearance in this case makes it even more urgent to answer this question and determine the true purpose of those payments and what role these lawyers may have played in the judicial processing of Dominga».

«Dominga cannot become a project shielded from the investigation of possible corruption networks. If there are indications pointing to potential bribes or undue favors in its judicial processing, they must be investigated thoroughly and swiftly, and we cannot take a step back on this,» Matías Asun concluded.

We will continue to provide updates.