Prosecutors Link Former Minister Andrés Chadwick to Influence Peddling in Parque Capital Project

Original article: “Por intermedio de Andrés Chadwick”: Fiscalía vincula al exministro con gestiones de Hermosilla por Parque Capital y lo investiga por tráfico de influencias

«The accused Luis Hermosilla (…) through Andrés Chadwick Piñera, held meetings with then Minister of Housing and Urbanism, Felipe Ward Edwards«. With this statement, included in the over one-thousand-page indictment presented by the Metropolitan Eastern Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Ministry identifies the former Minister of the Interior as a key player in the efforts made by lawyer Luis Hermosilla to unlock the Parque Capital real estate project by Grupo Patio.

The former state secretary is mentioned 29 times throughout the legal document, most relating to his role in processing this initiative. He has been separated from the main case via a new Unique Cause Role, where he is being investigated as a suspect for the crime of influence peddling.

This decision was communicated to the 4th Guarantee Court of Santiago by the attorney general led by Lorena Parra, which opted to open an independent line of inquiry to continue investigating the role that the former minister of Sebastián Piñera may have had in the processing of the real estate project. According to reports from Teletrece, «the Public Ministry’s thesis holds that Hermosilla received 10,000 UF from Álvaro Jalaff in exchange for his dealings to bolster the Grupo Patio initiative» and to exert influence over then Minister of Housing, Felipe Ward. The indictment details that the lawyer served as an advisor to the Ministry of the Interior between 2018 and 2022 while maintaining a «close professional, commercial, and friendship relationship» with Jalaff, who was CEO of Grupo Patio and representative of Parque Capital S.A.

The project involved selling industrial lots on a plot of approximately 400 hectares in the municipality of Lampa, but to proceed, it required Favorable Reports for Construction issued by the Region Metropolitan’s housing and urbanism authority. The environmental authority had deemed the initiative incompatible with the regulatory plan, which led brothers Álvaro and Antonio Jalaff to seek Hermosilla as an intermediary or facilitator. According to Álvaro Jalaff’s statement, he allegedly paid around $300 million in 2019 to obtain the favorable reports, which were ultimately approved in 2021.

«In total, I paid Luis Hermosilla the equivalent of 10,000 UF to unlock the Parque Capital project. Of this, approximately 6,000 UF were given in cash, and the remaining 4,000 UF were compensated through the debt he owed to Factop,» Jalaff testified.

With this information delivery, the businessman solidified his agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, opting for a shortened procedure.

According to Teletrece reports in the indictment document, the prosecution states that Hermosilla held meetings with Ward and Errázuriz through «Andrés Chadwick».

The text adds that «subsequently, on August 7, 2020, he called for a private meeting at his offices with Felipe Ward and then Seremi of Housing and Urbanism of the Metropolitan Region, Manuel José Errázuriz Tagle, during which he expressly requested that the processing of the project be unlocked».

Sources consulted by the media confirmed that Chadwick will remain a suspect in the Parque Capital line as investigations are still pending, mainly concerning the flow of money.

Chats Reveal Chadwick’s Actions on Parque Capital While He Was Minister

In January of this year, regional prosecutor Lorena Parra stated in an interview with CNN that Chadwick was not considered a suspect in this line because at the time of the events (2020-2021) he was no longer serving as Minister of the Interior, but what is being investigated are his actions prior to October 2019, when his constitutional accusation was approved.

Despite this justification from the prosecutor, records of the conversations with lawyer Luis Hermosilla and businessman Álvaro Jalaff reviewed by CIPER show that Chadwick was indeed Minister of the Interior during the second government of his cousin Sebastián Piñera, when he made key moves for Parque Capital between March 2018 and October 2019.

According to the records, he coordinated at least three key meetings to unlock the Grupo Patio real estate project, of which two were not recorded in the Lobby Law nor investigated by the Public Ministry.

Chadwick to Testify in Trial Against Hermosilla

In the indictment submitted by the Metropolitan Eastern Prosecutor’s Office as part of the Audio-Factop Case, 339 witnesses are cited to appear at the oral trial, including Andrés Chadwick, who must testify regarding events No. 14 and 15, concerning the Parque Capital line and bribery of officials from the Internal Revenue Service (SII).

«He will testify about his role as Minister of the Interior from 2018 to 2019, his relationship with the accused Luis Hermosilla Osorio, and the duties that the accused performed in his capacity as legal advisor to the Ministry of the Interior,» states the legal action, as reported by Teletrece Investigations.

Additionally, 23 invoices issued by Chadwick in favor of the company Asesorías e Inversiones Luis Hermosilla y Compañía between 2020 and 2023 will be presented, along with bank statements from his account at Banco BCI from December 2019 to June 2024, and both national and international credit card statements.

The cited media sent questions to the legal team of the former UDI senator, but they declined to provide a response at this time regarding the decisions made by the Public Ministry.

A hearing for the preparation of the oral trial against six individuals involved in the bribery and corruption scheme is scheduled for October 13, where the Metropolitan Eastern Prosecutor’s Office is seeking sentences totaling over 90 years for crimes of bribery, cohecho, fraud, influence peddling, and tax offenses. The highest request from the prosecuting body weighs on Luis Hermosilla, who faces 17 years in prison. In this scenario, Chadwick will have to take the stand to testify as a witness in the trial against his former partner and friend while concurrently continuing the investigation against him for influence peddling in the Parque Capital line.