Lapidary diagnosis delivered this Tuesday the Valparaíso Regional Comptroller’s Office after release five audit reports that they reviewed the use of fiscal resources during the megafire emergency of February 2024. The inspection, which covered the Regional Presidential Delegation (DPR), the Regional Directorate of Architecture (DRA) and the municipalities of Viña del Mar and Quilpué, detected irregularities that exceed the $1.8 billionincluding surcharges of up to 220%payments for ghost demolitions and informal coordination via WhatsApp between authorities and suppliers.
Given the seriousness of the findings, the The Comptroller’s Office ordered the investigation of administrative summaries and sent the records to the Prosecutor’s Office and to State Defense Council (CDE) to pursue possible responsibilities criminal and civil.
MOP: “WhatsApp” and surcharges in El Olivar
The largest case was detected in the Regional Directorate of Architecture (MOP). Report No. 500/25 revealed an irregular contracting scheme with the Company San Nicolás SpA for the demolition of homes in the Olivar sector.
According to the audit, The company charged $7.3 million per demolished home, an amount significantly higher than the $3.5 million offered by other competitors. The Comptroller’s Office found that the then Regional Director maintained direct communication via WhatsApp with the company representative before the formal processwhich would show that the award was defined in advance.
In addition, payments for $782 million in items such as “perimeter closures” and “land matching” that were not executed or had no technical justification. In one of the most striking findings, it was detected that to support the collections the company used repeated photographs or images in which the homes already appeared demolished in the supposed “before” photo.
At the same time, Report No. 805/25 detected other $434 million in improper payments for partial demolitions charged as total and unpaid fines to contractors who failed to meet deadlines.
Presidential Delegation: “Ghost” machinery and duplicate drivers
The audit of the Regional Presidential Delegation (Report No. 528/25) exposed a lack of control in the rental of heavy machinerywith observations that total more than $568 million.
The Comptroller’s Office detected that companies contracted through direct treatment, San Nicolás SpA and Minera y Constructora Río Grande SpAnor had machinery or vehicles in their name at the time of award, operating as intermediaries that informally subcontracted the services.
Among the most fragrant irregularities, more than $61 million for machinery rental whose drivers were shown driving two different vehicles (a truck and a skid steer) at the same time and datesomething physically impossible. Likewise, exorbitant surcharges were found: the DPR paid up to 220% more than the Municipality of Quilpué for the rental of hopper trucks and backhoes with similar characteristics.
Municipalities: Disorder in inventories and security risk
At the municipal level, the lack of internal control was constant. In Vina del Mar (Report No. 503/25), the Comptroller’s Office confirmed that, one year after the emergency, The municipality kept $ 33 million of monetary donations “principled” in an unused checking account. Additionally, 1,280 benefit delivery certificates were not provided, which made it impossible to verify whether the aid actually reached the victims. and unjustified differences were detected in the inventories of mattresses and tents.
For its part, in Quilpue (Report No. 535/25), The purchase of 382 gas stoves for almost $ 15 million that did not have SEC safety certification was objectedwhich implied a risk for users. The loss of 297 donated SIM cards was also reported by the Seremi de Transportes and the disappearance of water ponds from the Calichero intake sector.
The Comptroller gave deadlines of between 30 and 60 days for entities to prove the restitution of funds or regularize situations, warning that the “reparos” (trials of accounts) could be made effective against the assets of the responsible officials if the observations are not corrected.
date: 2026-02-11 03:05:00
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