During the day this Thursday, the opening arguments were considered to have begun in the Carabineros fraud trial, which has, so far, 31 people accused of the crime of embezzlement, which exceeds $28,348. millions of pesos.
It should be noted that in March 2017, the general director of Carabineros at the time, Bruno Villalobos, confirmed the fraud within the institution, in a case that began with 70 million pesos and ended up exceeding 28 billion pesos.
The investigation was carried out by the regional prosecutor of Magallanes, Eugenio Campos, who pointed to 31 people as the leaders of the embezzlement network within the Carabineros. These defendants are being formalized for the crime of embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and illicit association.
Among the accused are the names of the former directors of finance, Iván Whipple and Flavio Echeverría, as well as edges that involve the former general directors of the institution such as Gustavo González, Bruno Villalobos and Eduardo Gordon.
According to the investigation by the Public Ministry, the defendants had more than 12 different ways to withdraw money from Carabineros bank accounts, which involved the participation of 100 people, including public officials and civilians, who used collection and redistribution mechanisms. monies previously designed for these purposes.
The Magallanes regional prosecutor, Eugenio Campos, underlined in a conversation with Radio Biobio that prior to this trial, Carabineros was loved and valued by the population. On the other hand, he emphasized that this trial is not against the uniformed men who carry out their work or those who put their lives at risk, alluding to what happened with the carabinero assassinated in Chillán as part of a police checkpoint.
“Until before this court case, it enjoyed the affection and general respect of all citizens, being one of the institutions best evaluated by public opinion. That this criminal trial is not directed against the institution of Carabineros de Chile, not much except against the thousands of carabineras and carabineros, sacrificed and selfless, carry out their work daily, putting their lives at risk, like that of that official who lost his life in Chillán,” he said.
On the other hand, the public criminal defender who represents more than half of the defendants, Yerko Pizarro, indicated that they will question the legal qualification that the Public Ministry and the State Defense Council have exposed.
“We assume the representation of 19 of the 31 defendants, in general terms our theory of the case is collaborative, as they have done throughout the investigation stage without prejudice to the fact that we are going to question the legal qualification of certain facts that have been raised, contrary to what the Public Ministry and the State Defense Council have stated,” he said.
It should be noted that for this case, the Public Ministry requests more than 20 years in prison for the 31 accused of these crimes. Meanwhile, the Magallanes Regional Prosecutor’s Office will present about 362 witnesses, 15 experts and more than 18,000 documents as proof and material evidence in the case.
