Sergio Yáber, the suspended head of the Puente Alto Property Registry (CBR), told prosecutors that in 2022 he transferred $10 million to Senator Matías Walker (Democrats). The CBR is the office that registers property ownership.
BioBioChile reported this based on an investigation by the news outlet Reportea. The statement came in the branch of the investigation known as the "appointments agency," which examines alleged irregularities in the buying and selling of judicial positions. The sources do not report the exact date of the questioning or the case number (RUC, Unique Case Number).
According to Radio ADN, Yáber testified before prosecutors Paola Castiglione and Claudia Perivancich. He is a suspect in the investigation, meaning prosecutors are investigating him as a possible participant in a crime. This does not imply guilt.
According to his statement, the money was provided in two transfers, one of $6 million and another of $4 million. That amount is in addition to a $1.6 million payment that Reportea had already revealed. BioBioChile dates that payment to 2024. ADN indicates that it was allegedly used to pay for an airline ticket for one of the senator's children.
Yáber maintained that the money was financial assistance for Walker's family, who were experiencing financial difficulties because of the serious illness of one of his children. He also linked it to a friendship of more than a decade, which reportedly began when both worked in the Coquimbo Region.
Radio ADN added that the payment period coincides with an intervention by Walker in 2022. According to the outlet, the senator allegedly interceded with then Justice Minister Marcela Ríos for the appointment of Rodrigo Ortúzar, a close friend of Yáber, as head of the First Notary Office of San Miguel. ADN states that the senator has not publicly detailed his role in that appointment.
Asked by Diario El Día, Walker declined to address the issue again. He said he had already given his statements and had no new information to add.
The report also attributes payments and benefits to other political and judicial figures to Yáber, including former judge Antonio Ulloa and Senator Sergio Gahona. Yáber has said that this assistance stemmed from friendships and his willingness to support people with financial problems.
According to ADN, Yáber also accused the former president of the San Miguel Court of Appeals, Luis Sepúlveda, of asking notaries and property registrars for money for professional association celebrations, and of intervening to secure jobs for his relatives in Puente Alto. The retired judge described those allegations as an "absolute falsehood".
On June 22, María José Montesino, the notary at the Fifth Notary Office of Coquimbo, told prosecutors that Senator Gahona had asked her for $1 million for his 2023 campaign for constitutional councilor. Gahona's press team categorically denied the allegation to CIPER. The investigation remains ongoing, and prosecutors have not announced any upcoming hearings.
