The Biobío Regional Prosecutor’s Office charged Coronel Mayor Boris Chamorro with 21 repeated counts of accepting bribes (receiving improper payments because of his position) and requested prison sentences totaling 8 years and 2 days. The indictment covers six other people in the Puerto Coronel case.
La Tercera reported the news. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Chamorro allegedly received $82 million in periodic payments between May 2022 and November 2023, to the detriment of the company Puerto Coronel.
Prosecutors maintain that some of that money left the company backed by invoices for services that were never provided. Of the 21 offenses attributed to the mayor, 18 occurred before the Economic Crimes Act took effect and three afterward.
Former councilor Eduardo Araya faces 29 repeated counts of accepting bribes. Prosecutors allege that he received $69.75 million between July 2021 and November 2023 and are also seeking 8 years and 2 days in prison for him. BioBioChile rounded that figure to $70 million.
Prosecutor Glenda Lagos explained that, for both men, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also requested bans on holding public office, which "total more than 12 years for each of them".
The longest sentence sought is for Eduardo Hartwig, the company’s former board chairman: more than 38 years. According to BioBioChile, he is charged with bribery, disloyal administration and tax offenses. Prosecutors are seeking 28 years and 2 days for businessman Daniel Chamorro and 18 years for Javier Anwandter Hammersley.
Víctor Olivares and Hernán Romero, charged as accomplices, face more than 14 years and more than 6 years, respectively, according to La Tercera. BioBioChile, however, reported that prosecutors are seeking 7 years for both contractors for disloyal administration and facilitating false invoices, and specified that Romero is the brother of former Deputy Leonidas Romero.
All defendants retain the presumption of innocence. The indictment is the stage at which prosecutors close the investigation and formally submit to the court the charges and sentences they will seek to establish at trial. The sources do not report the case number (RIT or RUC).
The Coronel Guarantee Court must now notify the defense teams and schedule the oral trial preparation hearing, where it will be decided which evidence may be used. According to BioBioChile, that hearing could take place in late 2026 or early 2027, with the trial at the Concepción Oral Trial Court no earlier than July 2027.