Complicated Belarusian Case: Ex-Prosecutor Guerra Receives Six Transfers Totalling $19.5 Million from Network Linked to Lagos and Vargas

Original article: Causa bielorrusa se complica: exfiscal Guerra recibió seis transferencias por $19,5 millones desde red ligada a Lagos y Vargas

New revelations about the web of influences, bribery, and money laundering being investigated by the Los Lagos Regional Prosecutor’s Office in the case concerning the Chilean-Belarusian consortium Belaz Movitec Spa (CBM), known as «Belarusian Belarusian«, are connected to former prosecutor Manuel Guerra.

According to reports from CIPER, the former prosecutor, noted for his role in the high-profile Penta case and who previously served in the Metropolitan East Regional Prosecutor’s Office, allegedly received six transfers amounting to $19.5 million from a network linked to lawyers Eduardo Lagos and Mario Vargas, who are currently in preventive detention, facing charges of repeated bribery and money laundering.

The prosecution claims that Vargas and Lagos, representing the CBM, paid 45 million pesos to former Supreme Court Minister Ángela Vivanco through her partner Gonzalo Migueles (also in preventive detention), to secure a favorable ruling for the consortium, which was involved in a legal dispute with the National Copper Corporation (Codelco) over the early termination of a contract, leading to a financial loss of approximately $17.1 billion to the state-owned company.

According to bank records analyzed by CIPER, six transfers totaling $19.5 million were identified as having reached Manuel Guerra after he had ceased to be a prosecutor, between October 24, 2023, and June 18, 2024. The funds did not come directly from the formalized lawyers, but from two sources related to their operations: Guerra’s secretary, María Pía Peñaloza, and the company «Lagos Asesorías Legales Limitada,» owned by Eduardo Lagos.

The details of the transactions are as follows:

– October 24, 2023: María Pía Peñaloza transfers $250,000 from a Banco Santander account.

– October 26, 2023: Peñaloza executes a second transfer from another Santander account for $2.25 million.

– December 11, 2023: A third transfer from Peñaloza totals $2 million.

– April 18, 2024: From the account of «Lagos Asesorías Legales Limitada» at Banco Itaú, $2.5 million is transferred.

– April 22, 2024: A new transfer from Lagos’s firm of $5 million.

– May 3, 2024: Another transfer from the same source for $2.5 million.

– June 18, 2024: A final transfer from Lagos Asesorías Legales sums up to $5 million.

Secretary María Pía Peñaloza was directly linked to the money laundering scheme during the formalization hearing of Lagos and Vargas. According to the prosecution, she carried out actions allegedly designed by her employers to launder money from the supposed bribes.

Records show that Peñaloza regularly received transfers from Vargas and Lagos, and on the same day she transferred $2.5 million to Guerra (including the first two transfers), Mario Vargas had transferred her the same amount.

Guerra Justifies Payments as Legal Fees

When queried by CIPER, Manuel Guerra explained in writing the origin of these funds, dissociating them from the Belarusian case and attributing them to joint legal work.

«Regarding the inquiry, all payments I received from Mr. Lagos through his firms relate to cases in which I provided services jointly with him [Lagos] or in which I advised him in a criminal case he was charged with. For example, I handled a case concerning an arbitration trial in Iquique alongside Mr. Lagos. We also jointly advised a defendant in a case being followed by the San Fernando Prosecutor’s Office for tax fraud. Likewise, I participated with Mr. Lagos and Mr. Vargas in advising the former general manager of Primus, Francisco Coeymans, in both his role as a complainant and as a defendant. All funds received for such concepts were declared before the Internal Revenue Service, both in receipts and in corrective statements filed with that service, which were approved by the same IRS and for which I paid the corresponding taxes. I emphasize that I never advised Mr. Lagos and his companies on matters that are part of the investigation against him,» he stated.

CIPER confirmed that, indeed, during the period when he received transfers from Eduardo Lagos’s company (April to June 2024), Guerra was litigating alongside Lagos and Vargas in the Primus Case, representing former manager Francisco Coeymans. During the same timeframe, Guerra’s sister, María Paz Guerra, was part of the work team at the law firm Lagos, Vargas, and Silber (LVS).

The defense attorneys for the main defendants opted for silence. Both Sergio Contreras, representing Mario Vargas, and Cristián Cáceres, lawyer for Eduardo Lagos, told CIPER that they prefer not to comment.

Complex Legal Situation for Ex-Prosecutor Guerra

The emergence of these transfers adds another layer of complexity to Manuel Guerra’s legal situation, who is already under investigation for alleged bribery in a separate case led by the Arica Regional Prosecutor’s Office, stemming from his chat conversations with lawyer Luis Hermosilla. Furthermore, his name had previously arisen in the Belarusian case through text messages found on the phone of Harold Pizarro – owner of a foreign exchange house under investigation – where Guerra attempted to exchange $8,000 in February 2024. Media outlets like T13 have also reported on exchanges of messages between Guerra and former Minister Ángela Vivanco, where they discussed their respective legal situations.

The discovery of this direct financial flow from the network of Lagos and Vargas to the ex-prosecutor raises new questions for the Los Lagos Prosecutor’s Office, which must determine whether these transactions, which Guerra justifies as legal fees, are connected to the laundering scheme for which the legal representatives of the Belarusian consortium are formalized. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, December 4, the Santiago Court of Appeals will review the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against him as part of the investigation into bribery.

The investigation against the former prosecutor originated after the revelation of a series of conversations that he maintained with lawyer Luis Hermosilla in the context of the so-called «Audio Case.» According to a 2024 report by CIPER, in one of those dialogues, they discussed coordinating with a third person identified as «Andrés» to find a «way out» of the highly publicized Penta case, which raised alarms among authorities.

The inquiry focuses on potential criminal behaviors committed by Guerra while overseeing highly publicized cases, not only the Penta case but also others like Exalmar.