Chillán Mayor Camilo Benavente Jiménez (PPD, with party membership suspended) was formally charged on Friday at the Chillán Guarantee Court over two alleged acts of fraud against the state. Prosecutors estimate losses of more than $2 billion from the purchase of the Medialuna de Chillán property in the Schleyer area.
Formal charging is the stage at which prosecutors formally inform a person, before a judge, that they are being investigated for specific crimes. It does not imply guilt: Benavente is a defendant and retains the presumption of innocence. This was reported by BioBioChile.
According to Chillán prosecutor Nadia Espinoza, the municipality paid $3,276,160,000 to Sociedad Fiesta El Caballo Chileno, the property's owner, without a reliable appraisal. The prosecutor estimated that this caused a loss of 1,900 million pesos to municipal and state assets.
The prosecutor said the Municipal Council approved the preliminary purchase agreement and the purchase contract on November 9, 2021. The three appraisals commissioned by the municipality were conducted only a month later. "In our view, this property is worth far less than what was actually paid," Espinoza said, describing the amount as almost double the price that should have been negotiated.
The second allegation concerns the mayor's agreement to return the rodeo arena's stands, corrals, wooden structures, roofing, large windows and other fixtures to the selling company. According to prosecutors, Benavente did not disclose that agreement to the Council, although the value of those assets was included in the price. That loss is estimated at around 200 million pesos.
The Ñuble Prosecutor's Office requested full house arrest, a travel ban (prohibition on leaving the country), and bans on approaching municipal premises and contacting municipal employees as precautionary measures. Espinoza justified the request by citing pending investigative work and "certain pressures" that, she alleged, the municipality had exerted on subordinates who were due to testify in the investigation.
The sources consulted do not include the position taken by the mayor's defense during the hearing.
Judge Claudia Madsen Venegas suspended the hearing. The court will rule on the precautionary measures on Monday at 8:00.