The Chilean public’s prosecutor office, known as Fiscalia de Chile, will investigate the nation’s president, Sebastian Pinera, for bribery in the sale of the Dominga project, a $2.5 billion iron ore project, the independent body of prosecutors said. Pinera was also accused of tax crimes.
According to Fiscalia, Pinera had a stake at the Dominga iron ore project and sold it to a friend. Under the terms of contract sale, the last payment of $10 million for the project was conditioned on helping the new buyer develop the iron ore project. The new buyer reportedly would benefit from changing environmental regulations.
Prosecutors at Fiscalia said the investigation follows the leak of the Pandora Papers. SteelOrbis has extensively reported on the iron ore project, which was banned and more recently reviewed by Chilean environmental courts.
Prosecutors also noted that the sale of Pinera’s stake in the project was made using in the British Virgin Islands. The president denied any wrongdoing.