The Prosecutor’s Office of the Biobío region, south of Chiliopened this Thursday an ex officio investigation into a foundation linked to the former president Michelle Bachelet for allegedly receiving irregular public aid.
The Public Ministry is specifically investigating the transfer last December of about 380 million Chilean pesos (about 465,000 dollars) to the Horizonte Ciudadano Foundation by the regional government.
From the regional government they rejected that there have been irregularities, but the central executive asked to clarify how the funds were managed.
“If any suspicion is detected, the regional government should open an administrative investigation and determine whether or not the aid constitutes an irregularity. At the moment, that is not clear.”assured the official spokesperson, Camila Vallejo.
Horizonte Ciudadano, which is dedicated to involving citizens in the design of public policies, was created in 2018 by Bachelet, the first woman to reach the Chilean Presidency and who governed the country in the periods 2006-2010 and 2014-2018.
The investigation comes amid a barrage of suspicions about numerous private foundations across the country for allegedly fraudulently receiving public grants in recent years.
The first case broke out in the north of the country, in the Antofagasta region, due to million-dollar agreements signed between the regional delegation of the Ministry of Housing and the Democracia Viva foundation, linked to militants of a government coalition party, Revolución Democrática (RD ).
The controversy has hit the Government and the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, replaced the Undersecretary of Housing who authorized the controversial agreements, but the pressure from the opposition on high executive positions does not stop.
The Government announced an audit throughout the country to clarify whether there are irregularities in these subsidies, but explained that its internal investigation will go back years, also to the legislature of former conservative president Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022), when the regulation was approved. that supposedly make irregular subsidies to private entities possible.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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