“Environmental Lawyer and Regional Bar Association President Guilty of Tax Fraud and Hidden Assets”

In his work as an expert environmental lawyer, Rodrigo Muñoz Ponce, also regional president of the Arica Bar Association, years ago represented an indigenous community against the Cerro Colorado Mining Company. For this representation, he received a sum close to 76 million pesos, but instead of declaring it, he generated a triangulation through one of his companies to avoid paying taxes, as established in two oral trials for this crime, the first annulled , but the second was upheld in higher courts. The sentence was 41 days and that is the term that his ban on accessing public office lasted. He also forgot to mention in his declaration of interests that he is passionate about vintage luxury vehicles, especially Jaguars, keeping two of those in his name.

The environmental lawyer, expert in Water Rights, Rodrigo Leonardo Muñoz Ponce, is a candidate for constitutional counselor in Arica for the Liberal Party list. This is his second attempt, since in the previous process he presented himself as an independent without being elected. At 56, he is also the regional president of the Bar Association, and, as he points out in his networks, he has worked in organizations such as the Subsecretariat for Regional Development (Subdere), the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG), and as a legal adviser. at the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (Conadi). And he also exercises relevant lawsuits in environmental matters, such as the ones he led against the Compañía Minera Cerro Colorado. But it was this same case that, personally, ended with an unexpected setback for this lawyer, given that in 2017 he was convicted of tax fraud.

As described in various documents of the case, including the complaint appeal filed by his defense against three magistrates of the 4th Oral Criminal Court of Santiago (Complaint Court of Appeals Santiago, Criminal-639-2018, Date of Entry: 01/30/2018), Muñoz Ponce was sentenced “as the author of a tax offense of maliciously false tax declaration of the Silva Muñoz y Cía. Ltda., Of which he is a partner, to suffer a penalty of 41 days in prison in its maximum degree, a fine of 5% of the evaded tax and legal accessory of suspension of public positions and offices during the time of the sentence ”.

“The Public Ministry confirmed that Muñoz Ponce was aware of the accounting of the Silva Muñoz y Compañía Limitada, given that, as part of the Muñoz Oñate Company, he issued two invoices to it for an amount close to $76,000,000, which according to his Defense, they corresponded to the fees received by him for the steps taken in the lawsuits against the Compañía Minera Cerro Colorado; Said invoices were effectively entered into the accounting of Sociedad Silva Muñoz y Compañía Limitada, of which Muñoz Ponce was also accredited as a partner, along with Silva Romero and relatives of both, for which reason he could hardly ignore the accounting of a legal entity of which it is a part when it also carries out actions that affect it”, establishes the ruling in the first instance of the second oral trial carried out regarding this accusation, since the first was annulled due to procedural issues of guarantees. 08

Does not declare: two companies and collection of luxury vehicles

In his Declaration of Interests and Probity, Rodrigo Muñoz Ponce reports participation in a company, the Adriana Possari Vitale Real Estate and Investment Company and Limited Company, name Fantasy Real Estate and Investment Girasol Ltda., which was published in the Official Gazette on 06/29/ 2018, in which he is a partner with his spouse Adriana Possari Vitale.

However, in his commercial reports he also appears as a partner in two other companies: Sociedad de Servicios Profesionales Muñoz y Oñate Limitada, fancy name Tandem-Maya Ltda, published on 10/05/2009, in which he is the legal representative and joint partner to Ricardo Fernando Onate Vera. And Marcela Durán González y Compañía Limitada, published on 08/11/2004, in which he has a 25% interest.

He has a master’s degree in Water Law. And it is also the owner of water use rights, of a consumptive type of surface water from the San José riverbed in the Arica area, resolution number 320, of the year 2001, issued by the General Directorate of Water, as indicated in its Declaration of Interests.

In it, he also declares a gross monthly income of $2,000,000, and that his activity is currently linked to representing the union as president of the Bar Association. She reports that she owns four properties, with a total tax assessment of $226,263,967, which corresponds to his business reports, and there it is detailed that these properties are intended for offices, land and agriculture. In addition, his company Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Girasol Ltda., registers a property with a tax value of $362,658,038.

What he does not report are the three vehicles he owns: Automobile Dodge Intrepid 2.7 Aut 1999; Jaguar XJ2 car 1986; Jaguar XJ6 4.2 Aut 1983 car. The last two are luxury and collector cars. And his wife shares this passion, since she also appears with five other vehicles, three of them luxury: Automobile BMW 325 Es 2.7 Aut 1986; Car Jaguar XK8 4.0 Auto 1997; Station Wagon Jaguar X Type 3.0 Auto 2006; Station Wagon Chevrolet Tracker Lt Awd 1.8 Auth 2014; Toyota Corolla 1.8 2007 car.