[Politics] Hermosilla Case: corruption that tests the strength of institutions

[FNX Magokiler]

The publication of an audio where the lawyer Luis Hermosilla has an impudent and rude conversation with his client, the businessman Daniel Sauer, and with the lawyer María Leonarda Villalobos, fundamentally to agree on the way (and the amount) to corrupt officials public, in order to prevent the law from operating, has shaken the civic, legal and political atmosphere of the country.

Although it is appropriate, in the immediate term, to place the central focus on the commission of crimes, this will clearly be insufficient, especially given the notoriety of those involved and their extensive network of links, as well as the seriousness of the events that occurred. They investigate the functioning of the country's economic institutions. Issues of probity linked to officials (still unknown) of two of the pillar institutions of our economic model are called into question: the Internal Revenue Service (SII) and the Commission for the Financial Market (CMF), and this occurs at a time critical of our political system in terms of public faith and probity, in addition to weak citizen confidence in institutions.

For more than a decade now, our economic constitution – or set of rules of the economic game – has been making efforts to close gaps and regain legitimacy, due to successive transgressions by major economic actors, in various directions and with different methods.

 

 

Collusion and market abuses, opacity of financial information, use of privileged information, influence peddling and other corruptive activities have negatively affected regulatory systems and financial oversight and control and intelligence mechanisms.

This case, in which the disclosed audio revolves around the SII and the CMF and a possible porosity and corrupt discretion, based on tariffed payments, is more than serious and implies a regulatory risk that, without prejudice to being thoroughly investigated, entails From now on, a reputational disgrace for the country. Both the CMF – the body in charge of guaranteeing the health of corporate governments and the financial stability of companies – and the SII – which collects and sues those who violate tax rules – are today obliged to provide guarantees that the risk is controlled and that there are no nuclei of corruption in its organization.

The case covers, among other corrupt aspects, billions of pesos in false billing that simulates economic movements and services that did not exist. Perfectly, in addition to legal companies operating outside the law, there could have been criminal businessmen laundering money. All, with a multiplicity of political convergence and public corruption, as can be seen from the leaked audio, which essentially denotes the possibility of selling confidential information in order to undermine or prevent the controls and inspections ordered by the authority.

 

https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/opinion/editorial/2023/11/20/caso-hermosilla-la-corrupcion-que-pone-a-prueba-la-fortaleza-de-las-instituciones/