SANTIAGO – Former president Eduardo Frei filed a complaint against his brother Francisco Frei for forgery, unfair negotiation, misappropriation, and other wrongdoing. This follows Francisco Frei’s self-denunciation for fraud earlier this year. Lawsuits against their company are estimated to total over USD$ 4 million.
Former President of Chile, Eduardo Frei, filed an official action in front of the 7th Court of Guarantee in Oct. 7, claiming that the Frei Larraechea family was victimized by brother Francisco Frei’s deception regarding the administration of Inversiones Saturno (“Saturn Investments”).
The official complaint accuses Francisco Frei of unfair administration, incompatible negotiation, falsification, and malicious use of a false commercial private instrument.
According to the lawyer for the Frei Larraechea family, Juan Domingo Acosta, “the modus operandi consisted of deceiving the victim about the true financial and patrimonial situation of [Saturn Investments], both verbally and in writing through false accounting reports.”
From last year:
Chilean deputies request investigation of former Presidents Bachelet and Frei
Investigation Into Francisco Frei
Francisco Frei filed a self-denunciation on Aug. 16 before the public prosecutor in Santiago, which officially began the investigation into his economic past.
On Aug. 29, members of the Investigation Brigade of Economic Crimes broke into Francisco Frei’s home to confiscate documents which could be used as evidence in his case.
The self-complaint filed by Francisco Frei addresses crimes encompassing nearly CLP$500 million (USD$688,000), although it is estimated that the actual number could reach up to CLP$2 billion (USD$2.76 million).
According to information obtained by Interferencia, Francisco Frei abused his position of power as an administrator and signed credit instruments in the name of Saturn Investments, without the knowledge of the former president and his wife Marta Larraechea, the owners of the company.
Francisco Frei then took the money he obtained through fraudulent means and injected it into companies he owned himself.
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A Family Matter
In his self-denouncement, Francisco Frei says that “Everything that was mentioned was carried out through the abuse of trust and of the name of my brother Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, without his consent or his authorization.”
Former president Eduardo Frei released a statement following his brother’s self-denunciation. He said, “I never imagined that he was going to deceive us in the way that he did.”
Saturn Investments is a family partnership that handled the management of the former president’s estate. Therefore, the fraud that was committed directly affected the whole Frei Larraechea family.
Magdalena Frei, daughter of Eduardo Frei and Marta Larraechea, is the current general manager of Saturn Investments.
Speaking to Capital, Magdalena Frei revealed that she believed that her “only role here is to help [her parents] overcome the situation, as any daughter would.”
Lawsuits
As a result of Francisco Frei’s administrative dealings with the former president’s company, Scotiabank sued both him and his brother for CLP$412 million (USD$567,900).
El Mostrador estimated that, as of Oct. 7, the lawsuits against the Frei brothers total over CLP $3 billion (USD $4.14 million).
Read more about Eduardo Frei’s father:
Doctor linked to murder case of former president gets government position
Ana Truesdale is a British student, studying Liberal Arts at Durham Univeristy, who is currently interning at Chile Today on her year abroad. She has a strong interest in Latin American culture and journalism and wishes to experience all that Chile has to offer.