State-owned Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) has filed a document with the Third Criminal Court of Santiago that rejects allegations of a corrupt bidding process for recent mining-related contracts.
An article published by the country’s Que Pasa magazine says the contract bidding process established by Codelco was not open to public scrutiny. The article also says executives lack control over the company’s activities.
In the document submitted to the court, Codelco says the allegations have no basis in fact and are false. It also maintains there is no evidence of the participation of the company’s executives in the supposed irregularities.
The article was based on accusations made by local lawyer Eduardo Villarroel, who says he has enough evidence to show that Codelco executives and some suppliers, including Zublin Chile, Geovita, Mas Errazuriz, Tunnex, Gardicic and Aura, formed a cartel to create a closed bidding process for contracts from the state-owned company.
Villarroel also says contracts were awarded to companies included in the cartel at prices higher than the lowest bid. Upon receiving payment from Codelco, companies in the alleged cartel would then divide the profits among themselves.
Villarroel’s evidence is based on information provided by former Codelco executive Baltasar Castillo, who was laid off in 2001 after being accused of a lack of probity. Castillo is still facing criminal charges at the Third Criminal Court of Calama.
Codelco has asked that the court subpoena Castillo to make a statement, as the allegations are being investigated by the Chilean Copper Commission.
Meanwhile, Chile’s mining minister, Alfonso Dulanto, who also acts as president of Codelco’s board of directors, says the accusations are part of a campaign against the company designed to speed up a possible privatization.
Codelco is the world’s largest copper producer and one of the main sources of revenue for the Chilean government.
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