Chilean President's Son Questioned in Bank Scandal
Sebastian Davalos, the 36-year old son of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, was questioned for four hours as a potential defendant in a multimillion-dollar real estate case involving his wife, Natalia Compagno.
Davalos, who was subpoenaed by prosecutors Luis Toledo and Sergio Moya, made no public comments as he exited the prosecutor's office in Rancagua on Monday.
Last Wednesday his wife, who owns 54 percent of the Caval company, testified for nine hours.
In February, it was reported by the weekly Que Pasa that in 2013 the Bank of Chile, which is owned by the Chilean conglomerate Quiñenco and the U.S.-based Citigroup, provided a $10.4 million loan to Caval for the purchase some land.
Caval subsequently sold the land, which was in the O'Higgins region, for $15.4 million to the firm Silca.
As reported by Fox News Latino, the fact that Caval only had assets amounting to less than $10,000, coupled with the news that the stated purpose of the loan was to acquire rural land which was supposed to be re-zoned for urban use, raised many concerns about possible influence-peddling as well as the use of privileged information.
In the end, the zoning change never occurred.
The loan, which was executed a day after Bachelet won her second term as president, sparked one of the worst political scandals in Chilean history.
Davalos, in an effort to square feeling with a frustrated public, resigned from his unpaid post as government socio-cultural director.
Alejandro Micco, the government's acting finance minister, said in a February interview with local radio station ADN that there was "nothing irregular" about the loan.
But added, as quoted in Reuters: "Without doubt not everyone has access to the president of the bank."
On Monday, results of an opinion survey showed the president's approval rating was at just 30 percent.
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