In a verdict dated December 23, 2020 of the RIT 11-2020 case, the Court of Oral Trial in Criminal Matters of La Serena unanimously convicted Ximena Alicia Burdiles Mohr and Juan Manuel Miranda Carmona as perpetrators of the crime of irregular lots, contemplated in Article 138 of the General Law of Urbanism and Construction (hereinafter “LGUC”) and of the crime of repeated fraud. In addition, it condemned Flavio Jaime Edgardo Gómez Pizarro, the lawyer who advised them on said lots, as an accomplice to the crimes described above. All this, in the context of the sale of irregular land or “witches’ plots” in the communes of La Serena and Coquimbo.

The convicted persons, through the company Parcons Propiedades Limitada, between the years 2013 and 2017 acquired agricultural land in the communes of La Serena and Coquimbo that was forbidden to change the use of the land. Notwithstanding the foregoing, said land was parcelled and put up for sale, expressly contravening the regulations in force, as it was subdivided without the corresponding authorizations, as provided in the LGUC, and in a size smaller than 5,000 square meters as established by Decree Law 3.516.

To that effect, and without prejudice to the existence of pending appeals, the Court determined that Mrs. Burdiles Mohr was guilty of the execution of 6 irregular lots plus 5 crimes of repeated fraud, being sentenced to 20 years and one day in prison. Mr. Miranda Campos was found guilty, as co-perpetrator, of carrying out 4 irregular plots of land plus 3 crimes of repeated fraud and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Finally, Mr. Gómez Pizarro was found guilty, as an accomplice, for the execution of 5 irregular lots plus 5 crimes of repeated fraud and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. To all the above, the fines to be paid by the defendants and the amount of the civil action filed for the emergent damage to the more than 200 people affected by the purchase and sale of the irregular land must be added.

In case you require additional information on this matter, you may contact Sven Herlin (sherlin@jdf.cl) and/or Julio Trucco (jtrucco@jdf.cl).