Former Chilean Supreme Court judge Ángela Vivanco was arrested on Sunday night (25), at her residence in the commune of Las Condes, in Santiago, on charges of corruption and money laundering. The arrest occurred after the Chilean Supreme Court itself authorized the opening of criminal proceedings against the magistrate, allowing the Public Ministry to move forward with the criminal prosecution.
According to the Public Ministry of Chile, Vivanco will be formally charged this Monday (26), at the Santiago Justice Center, as part of the investigation known as “Muñeca Bielorrusa”. The case investigates suspicions of bribery and money laundering. Before the charges are filed, the court will analyze the legality of Vivanco’s arrest during the custody hearing.
According to the Radio Bío Bíofrom Chile, the former judge’s defense classified her arrest as “unnecessary” and stated that Vivanco faces health problems. The former judge’s lawyer, Jorge Valladares, declared that the grounds of the measure will be challenged at this Monday’s hearing and said he was concerned about his client’s clinical condition.
According to the accusation presented by prosecutors, Vivanco had acted in a coordinated manner with lawyers Mario Vargas and Eduardo Lagos to favor the Chilean-Belarusian consortium Belaz Movitec in legal disputes against the Chilean state-owned company Codelco, when he was part of the Third Panel of the Supreme Court. According to investigators, payments totaling at least 90 million Chilean pesos (approximately US$104,000 at current exchange rates) would have been made through his then partner, Gonzalo Migueles.
Prosecutor Marco Muñoz, responsible for the case, stated that the operation to arrest the former judge took place legally and with the presence of the defense, without incident. According to the newspaper The Counterif the Public Ministry requests and the court orders preventive detention, Vivanco could become the first former member of the Supreme Court in the country to comply with this precautionary measure.
