Codelco has expanded its criminal complaint before Santiago’s 7th Guarantee Court, adding former lawmaker Gabriel Silber and former mayor Aldo Cornejo to the investigation into the so-called “Belarusian plot.”
The legal action seeks to investigate the alleged involvement of both politicians in a scheme involving irregular payments and improper maneuvers intended to benefit the Belaz Movitec Consortium in litigation against the state company. The complaint also targets María Pía Peñaloza López, an employee of the law firm under investigation.
According to reports from Bío Bío Investiga, the state-owned company is requesting that attorneys Silber and Cornejo voluntarily surrender their mobile phones and WhatsApp chat histories from 202 to the date of the filing.
Role in the influence-peddling scheme
The complaint alleges that Silber—a partner of lawyers Mario Vargas Cociña and Eduardo Lagos Herrera, who have already been formally charged—participated directly in the mechanism used to facilitate multi-million dollar payments to the consortium. The indictment claims the former lawmaker had “direct and full” knowledge of the “illicit influence mechanism” used against former Minister Ángela Vivanco through her partner, Gonzalo Migueles.
According to Codelco’s filings, Silber allegedly played a “leading role” in processing legal actions, including a protection writ in the Copiapó Court of Appeals and a complaint filed with the Supreme Court’s Third Chamber.
The state company asserts that, although Silber claimed he did not take steps to expedite the cases, “the mere fact of appearing as a sponsoring attorney in a legal challenge—the favorable outcome of which was obtained through bribes to Minister Vivanco, of which he had full knowledge—constitutes an essential contribution to the execution of the criminal plan.”
Meanwhile, the legal situation of former Minister Ángela Vivanco, who remains in pretrial detention, has undergone another shift. CNN Chile reported that her private defense team, led by attorney Jorge Valladares, has resigned from representing the accused.
Following the resignation, Santiago’s 7th Guarantee Court provisionally appointed public defender Víctor Providel to ensure Vivanco’s representation. The court ruled that the former minister may appoint her own attorney at any point during the investigation into bribery and money laundering.