Vivanco Denies Involvement, Yet Former Judicial Chief Reveals Interventions for Yáber and Najle in Money Laundering Case

Original article: Vivanco negó gestiones, pero exjefe de División Judicial declara que intervino por Yáber y Najle, formalizados por lavado

Héctor Mery, who served as the head of the Judicial Division of the Ministry of Justice during Sebastián Piñera’s second presidency, disclosed two incidents in which Ángela Vivanco allegedly intervened in the applications of Sergio Yáber and Yamil Najle, both formalized for money laundering in connection with the «Belarusian scheme.»

Mery’s statements, provided on June 26 and July 10, were made in a confidential aspect of the Hermosilla case being handled by the Valparaíso Prosecutor’s Office, internally dubbed the “appointments agency”, which investigates the buying and selling of positions for judges, prosecutors, notaries, and conservators. In his account, the current Constitutional Court minister discussed two actions attributed to the former Supreme Court minister, who has denied any involvement.

It’s important to remember that the “Belarusian scheme” targets a money laundering scheme linked to bribes paid to Vivanco and her partner, Gonzalo Migueles.

According to the prosecutor’s hypothesis, lawyers from the Chilean-Belarusian consortium Belaz-Movitec (CBM), Mario Vargas and Eduardo Lagos, allegedly paid at least $90 million pesos to the ex-judge and Migueles to favor their company in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Codelco, in which the state-owned entity was ordered to pay over $17 billion.

Part of these funds were allegedly laundered through financial operations and simulated contracts, with Yáber and Najle facilitating the introduction of illicit money into the system.

As a result, the conservator of Puente Alto was suspended, charged with money laundering, and subjected to a judicial summary, where Vivanco testified as a witness. The conservator of Chillán is also charged with money laundering for his potential participation in the same scheme.

According to Reportea, Mery revealed that Vivanco’s first intervention occurred in 2018, when Yáber secured the position. The second allegedly took place in 2021, during an unsuccessful application by Najle for the conservatorship in Iquique.

The former head of the Judicial Division was explicit: «Regarding Yamil Najle Alee, I can state that in 2021 when he applied for the conservatorship of real estate in Iquique… Ms. Ángela Vivanco called me to express her favorable opinion of candidate Najle, who ultimately was not appointed. Ángela told me that she knew him, that he was a very good person and a good professional. I would say she was less vehement than with Yáber, whom she wanted to refute information that was circulating. Here she mentioned a very good opinion of Najle,» the investigative outlet reported.

Vivanco’s denial of the interventions was recorded on January 20. On that day, judicial prosecutor of the San Miguel Court, Carla Troncoso, directly asked her if she had undertaken actions to promote Yáber’s appointment as conservator of Puente Alto, and the former magistrate denied it, according to Reportea.

The same prosecutor later recounted in the Valparaíso Prosecutor’s Office: “Ángela Vivanco Martínez stated that it was impossible for her to interfere as she was also in the process of being appointed to the Supreme Court”. This version has flaws: although Vivanco was applying to the highest court in 2018, she was confirmed by the Senate on July 4 of that year, nearly three weeks before Yáber entered the shortlist. Furthermore, she maintained contacts with government officials since March, as shown by her chats with Luis Hermosilla.

Mery stated that the call regarding Yáber had a “vehement” tone and that Vivanco sought to refute information that could harm the applicant. The conservator himself told the prosecutor on August 12 that during his application, a photo of an old and rundown property circulated to discredit him.

“When I was applying for the position of Conservator of Real Estate of Puente Alto, I was on the shortlist and someone from Coquimbo sent to the Ministry of Justice or someone with political influence, whose identity I never knew, a photo of the corner of an old and shabby property adjoining a new building of mine, claiming that was my office, implying that I wasn’t investing, with total bad faith. Obviously to harm my application,” he declared, while indicating he didn’t recall if he discussed the matter with Vivanco.

The accounts provided to the Public Ministry by Vivanco, Yáber, and Antonio Ulloa —former minister of the Court of Santiago, dismissed after constitutional accusations for his ties with Hermosilla— point to an agreement sealed in mid-2018 in La Serena: if Yáber was appointed conservator in Puente Alto, he would hire Gonzalo Migueles, Vivanco’s partner, as an advisor. Yáber took office on November 6, 2018, and according to his own account, two or three weeks later he met Ángela at a café in the Casa Costanera mall. «I could have called her to meet and celebrate and to mention Gonzalo Migueles’ hiring,» he said.

Monthly Payments to Migueles of $3 Million

According to bank documents reviewed by Reportea, both Yáber and Najle paid $3 million monthly to Migueles. In Yáber’s case, $1 million monthly is also documented for Ulloa. Sources familiar with the Conservator of Puente Alto indicated to Reportea that the net monthly income of the person leading that organization can reach $50 million.

Mery was surprised by Vivanco’s intervention. “Generally, Supreme Court career ministers do not get involved in these nominations, which is why I was struck by this call Vivanco made to me, (that) was so explicit and that she took sides for Mr. Najle because no other Supreme Court minister expressed their opinion on secondary scale competitions. If Vivanco did it, it is because she did not know the unwritten codes of the Supreme Court,” he indicated.

In 2024, already under Gabriel Boric’s government, Najle secured the position of conservator of Chillán, and sources from the administration consulted by Reportea stated they were unaware of any interventions from Vivanco in his favor, although they noted that judges backing candidacies usually operated over appellate court ministers. The system has changed: notaries and conservators will be chosen by high public management.

Fear of Vivanco

Today, Yáber and Najle face an extremely delicate situation. In parallel to the criminal investigation into the alleged laundering of bribes for Vivanco, both have removal notebooks in the Judiciary and have appealed to the Constitutional Court to block their dismissals. In Yáber’s case, the TC file indicates that on September 8, his case was submitted for deliberation, pending only for the ministers to communicate their decision. The investigation into the “appointments agency” keeps Vivanco, Yáber, and Najle among its targets of interest.

«As a friend of Sergio (Yáber), I can say that he had a reverential fear of Ángela, as I also had, in fact, I participated in their discussions to avoid problems with her; it was complicated to be on Vivanco’s bad side,» Ulloa declared.

Najle, in the file of the “Belarusian scheme”, also expressed feeling pressure: «I felt a lot of pressure from them; it’s not easy to say no.«

If it is confirmed that Vivanco made efforts to support the appointments of Yáber and Najle, the former minister could face new charges of bribery, due to the financial benefits she might have obtained through her then-partner. The Valparaíso Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating her potential involvement in the appointments of two other conservators: Luis Fischer in Viña del Mar and Carlos Swett in Con Con.