Triple Contract, Tax Debt, and Conflict of Interest: Issues Surrounding Kast’s Upcoming Deputy Secretary

Original article: Triple contrato, deuda fiscal y conflicto de interés: los antecedentes que complican en Contraloría a la próxima subsecretaria de Kast

As ministers and appointed undersecretaries prepare to take office under President-elect José Antonio Kast, the General Comptroller of the Republic (CGR) is faced with a complaint that could complicate the entry of one prominent figure in the new administration. This pertains to Romina Garrido, a lawyer specializing in data protection and information technology law, nominated to serve as the Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Subtel).

The complaint, filed on February 24, calls for an investigation into potential administrative violations Garrido may have committed while serving as an advisor in various public agencies in recent years. The allegations highlight three main concerns: overlapping public contracts suggesting work hours of up to 17 hours a day, an unpaid tax debt related to medical leaves over four years, and a possible conflict of interest stemming from her involvement in legislation regarding Personal Data Protection while running a consultancy that aligns with the services that law aimed to regulate.

The document filed with the Comptroller’s office includes an analysis questioning Garrido’s suitability for the role and contains explicit recommendations directed towards the Office of the President-elect (OPE), raising questions about whether the Kast team was aware of these issues prior to her appointment.

«Section 6.2 on page 39, titled ‘Operational Recommendations (OPE),’ is dedicated to suggesting actions for the president-elect’s team. It states: ‘Due to the overwhelming evidence of strategic, technical, ethical, and political incompatibility, the following graduated courses of action are suggested to mitigate damage for the Office of the President-elect: Consider the immediate relocation of Romina Garrido to a technical role that better suits her academic profile and is less politically and operationally exposed,'» the cited outlet reported.

However, the OPE has responded to these suspicions; when consulted by CIPER, they stated that the report «has nothing to do with the OPE,» without clarifying whether they had received it.

Overlapping Public Contracts

A central point of the complaint concerns the multiple contracts that Romina Garrido maintained simultaneously with various state entities. Documents indicate that the lawyer entered into agreements with three different undersecretariats, whose functions overlapped, especially in December 2019.

Garrido’s first public service contract began on January 1, 2017, with the Undersecretary of Public Health, continuing uninterrupted until December 31, 2021. During this time, she served as a legal advisor with a specific role that involved delivering legal advice to the Ministry of Health through the Legal Division on various related matters. According to available descriptions from the Transparency Portal, her duties involved advising on matters related to the department of Sectoral TIC Management.

Throughout this nearly five-year contract, her monthly salary increased progressively, starting from $1.8 million and reaching about $2 million by the end of the agreement.

Concurrently, on May 2, 2018, Garrido began another contract with the Undersecretary of Transportation under the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT), lasting until December 31, 2022, for four and a half years. Her role involved supporting the cabinet of then-Minister Gloria Hutt in handling complex legislative tasks. According to the contract terms, Garrido was tasked with helping to track and process legislative bills, regulations, and other regulatory instruments related to the transportation sector, as well as drafting bills, indicators, reports, presentations, and minutes regarding legislative motions in process in Congress.

Public records show that her monthly salary in this undersecretariat started at $2 million and rose to $2.6 million towards the end of the contract.

The third contract, significant as it pertains to the agency she is slated to lead, was signed with the Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Subtel) for the period between May 9 and October 31, 2019. In this role, her functions were centered around advising on the «study, analysis, development, and processing of regulations related to Digital Television (TVD).» Her job description also mentioned her participation in interministerial meetings with other ministries, public institutions, and parliamentarians on the same topic. For these responsibilities, Garrido earned $450,000 monthly.

The overlap of these contracts reveals a significant period of concurrency during December 2019, wherein Garrido had active contracts with the Undersecretariats of Public Health, Transportation, and Telecommunications. The complaint posits that fulfilling all these obligations would require her to maintain a working day of 17 hours.

CIPER sought to verify this calculation by directly contacting the three undersecretariats regarding the hours required for each contract but received no response. The Undersecretariats of Transportation and Telecommunications directed the inquiry through the Transparency Law, while the Health department did not respond before the report’s deadline. Attempts to contact Romina Garrido via phone, WhatsApp messages, and email also went unanswered.

A Tax Debt Settled at Just the Right Time

Another critical background element in the complaint involves a tax debt Garrido allegedly maintained with the Undersecretary of Transportation, amounting to $871,458, linked to medical leaves not reimbursed after her resignation from the agency in 2022. Notably, the complaint highlights that this amount was reportedly paid only in February of this year, just days before José Antonio Kast officially announced her appointment as the future Undersecretary of Telecommunications.

The documents accompanying the complaint include a screenshot of an email sent by the Undersecretary of Transportation on December 12, 2022, in which a staff member from the Personnel Administration Unit notified that Garrido «left the payment pending» for two medical leaves, «each for 7 days of rest.»

The complaint also contains an official letter sent on December 22, 2022, to then-controller Jorge Bermúdez from the Transportation Undersecretary at the time, Cristóbal Pineda. In this official document, it is reported that «it was detected that Mrs. Romina Garrido, at the time of her voluntary resignation, had 10 business days of medical leaves unreimbursed to the institution. Therefore, to protect fiscal assets, it is necessary to declare Mrs. Romina Garrido as a tax debtor for an amount of $871,458,» CIPER stated.

Personal Data Protection Law: Conflict of Interest at the Core

The third major aspect of the complaint targets a potential conflict of interest relating to Romina Garrido’s involvement in processing the Personal Data Protection Law while maintaining a consultancy tied to this area.

According to collected materials, on January 17, 2023, members of the Constitution Commission approved a series of amendments to the Personal Data Protection Law project, particularly concerning the model for preventing infringements, which is voluntary for companies. Specifically, a compliance plan was established with a set of specific requirements and the role of the data protection officer was solidified, a service provided by companies dedicated to consulting in this field.

The complaint asserts that, at least until that date, Garrido operated a consultancy—Privacy Consulting—that offered these same services. Furthermore, she participated in the legislative process as an expert or advisor to a parliamentarian—specifically mentioned is her connection with Senator Kenneth Pugh (RN)—raising questions about whether she could have promoted legal changes that directly affected her business.

Garrido’s case is not the only one that has garnered media attention for similar situations. In 2025, CIPER published an article noting that after these amendments to the Personal Data Law, the former president of the Transparency Council, who also promoted that regulation, Marcelo Drago, established a company, Data Compliance SpA, dedicated to implementing models to prevent data protection infringements. This article also mentioned Garrido’s circumstances, and those details were subsequently sent to the Comptroller as part of the complaint.

To document the existence and activities of Privacy Consulting, the complaint includes records retrieved via the archive.org platform, which allows access to archived versions of websites. According to these captures, in June 2023, Romina Garrido’s company offered services on its website for «compliance plans and risk infringement prevention strategies in managing personal data to ensure that technological procedures adhere to international regulatory standards and the upcoming Chilean legislation on personal data protection.» The webpage also prophesized that «the forthcoming personal data law includes the implementation of programs to prevent infringements, which, although voluntary, may reduce penalties and fines.»

Records indicate that Privacy Consulting’s website was active until October 2024, while the company’s legal identity shows that invoices were being issued until 2025, suggesting that the firm maintained commercial activity even after Garrido began being considered for high-responsibility public roles.

Garrido’s Involvement in Legislative Process

Alongside her consultancy, Romina Garrido continued to actively participate in the legislative processing of the Personal Data Protection Law. According to reports from the mixed committee reviewing the bill, the future undersecretary attended a session on January 23, 2024, as an advisor to Senator Kenneth Pugh, along with other members of the parliamentarian’s cabinet. This session discussed and voted on crucial aspects of the project that would ultimately become law.

More recently, on March 14, 2025, Garrido took part in a meeting documented on the Lobby Law platform, this time acting as treasurer of the Association of Professionals for the Protection of Personal Data (AGPD). The meeting was with Undersecretary Macarena Lobos, and according to available public information, the goal was to «understand the implementation plan for the Personal Data Protection Law.» Other attendees included Marcelo Drago—who later founded his own consultancy in this area—and Constanza Pasarin, Garrido’s partner in Privacy Consulting.

CIPER reported that they attempted to contact lawyer Constanza Pasarin to learn more about the workings of the company she shares with Romina Garrido, as well as her role in dealings with the authorities. However, after initial contact was made, Pasarin did not answer further inquiries from the investigative outlet.

The complaint filed with the General Comptroller of the Republic raises questions concerning various aspects of Romina Garrido’s public service. It will now be up to the oversight body to determine whether these issues warrant the opening of a formal investigation and, if so, whether it leads to administrative responsibilities that could affect Garrido’s suitability to serve as Undersecretary of Telecommunications.