Chile Universities Earned CL$16-Billion Through Bribery

Minister Beyer and President Pinera
discussing the corruption case affecting Chile universities

As part of the corruption case affecting the National Accreditation Commission, three Chile universities are accused of unlawfully earning more than CL$16-billion.

Universidad del Mar, Pedro de Valdivia, and SEK Chile universities were tried, this Sunday, in the Eighth District Court, for infringing the Law of Responsibility of Legal Personalities.

As part of the National Accreditation Commission (CNA) case, the three universities are accused of bribery. They have allegedly paid CL$25,000,000 to the former director of the aforesaid commission, Luis Eugenio Díaz, in order to get the very sought-after accreditation.

In fact, the accreditation is necessary for any university to fulfill its education duty and, above all, to get the Credito con Aval del Estado (CAE), or state-backed loans.

Thus, district attorney Pablo Norambuena revealed that the Pedro de Valdivia university earned CL$8,000-million through this type of credit. It is said that the Universidad del Mar obtained the same amount of money, while the SEK received more than CL$859-million from the CAE in 2012.

In addition to trying the presidents of the three universities, the State Defense Council has decided to sue the institutions themselves, as legal personalities, explains attorney Rodrigo Reyes.

Once the charges were known, the district attorney’s office asked for a 60-day extension of the investigation, which was accorded by the judge.

The universities risk the suspension of their legal personality, a fine that can reach CL$400-million, the loss of their tax benefits and to be banned from entering into any contract with the state.

The Pedro de Valdivia university has denied any involvement in the CNA corruption case and said they did not deserve a fine.