On more than one occasion this Tuesday the mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue (PC) spoke about his judicial situation during his last public account in which he spoke about his 12 years of management in charge of the commune in the northern sector of the capital. But in addition, the communal authority also aimed its darts at those who made up the board of directors of the Chilean Association of Municipalities with Popular Pharmacies (Achifarp), the mayor of Valparaíso, Jorge Sharp and the communal authority of Puente Alto, German Codina.
The above, in the midst of the investigation that the Public Ministry is carrying out against the organization created in 2016 and that It sought to group municipalities to acquire medicines at a lower cost, but ultimately failed. In that case, on May 29 in the Third Guarantee Court, the North Central Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office will charge Jadue with charges of bribery, disloyal administration, tax fraud and fraud.
And the mayor of Recoleta is the one who spearheaded and led the project, which was joined by a series of mayors from all over the country that year. However, over time and for various economic and legal reasons, Achifarp entered into a forced judicial liquidation process, accumulating more than one billion pesos in debt and is also being investigated for alleged corruption crimes by the Public Ministry.
Added to the above is the fact that a series of mayors have maintained that the organization failed due to problems of administration, transparency and because it simply did not achieve its objective: buy cheaper medicines. And the prices obtained through the grouping of municipalities could also be reached individually directly to Cenabast. Added to this is also that some mayors were even unaware of having been part of the group.
During the last public account of his 12 years in office, since he is prevented from running for reelection due to a time limit, Jadue dedicated a space exclusively to talk about the investigation that the prosecutor continues against him. Giovanna Herrera. Something that the mayor announced at the beginning of the appearance that he was going to “take some leave. “They’re going to realize it.”
In the last part of his public account, Jadue spoke of the five crimes for which he is being investigated by the association’s management. In that sense, the mayor noted: “Well, I’ll tell you. I am president, I was president of Achifarpwhich has a collective board of eleven people,” he began by stating.
Following that, he pointed out that “the administration falls on the executive secretary, not on the president,” said Jadue. The person who held said position in Achifarp was Daniel Moragawho also appears in the case for which the mayor is being investigated and who will likewise be formalized for disloyal administration.
But Jadue’s darts went further and while talking about the investigation against him he assured: “And the person in charge of verifying the proper use of resources is not the president, but rather the treasurer, who is a mayor of the Fifth Region. (from Valparaiso) who has been silent all this time, but they are actually going to have to call him to testify.” According to the organization’s own records, the person the PC mayor refers to is the mayor of the commune of Valparaíso, Jorge Sharpwho until the association’s extinction served as treasurer.
The mayor of Valparaíso took over as treasurer of Achifarp after the second assembly of the association, which was held in March 2017. However, according to those who know what happened, they maintain that said position was never held, nor was there access to the accounts of the organization led by Jadue. Finally, Sharp resigned from the association in September 2021.
When the Municipality of Valparaíso was consulted, they declined to refer to Mayor Jadue’s words because there is an open judicial process.
But not only Sharp was alluded to by Jadue, and continuing with his statement, the mayor of Recoleta pointed out: “In addition to the treasurer, the second person who had to supervise the good use of resources was the vice president, the second vice president, who is a mayor from here in the southern part of our country, who is also very quiet and who tThey are also going to call him to testify”referring to the second vice president of Achifarp who is the mayor of Puente Alto, Germán Codina.
“Because? Because it is indeed strange, which is when one begins to suspect that the only one who is accused is the president who has no power of administration. And he is also accused of administration of the loyalist,” said Mayor Jadue, giving way to the explanation of the rest of the crimes for which Prosecutor Herrera will formalize it on May 29.
When consulted about this, the Municipality of Puente Alto maintained that in April 2022, Mayor Codina sent a letter to Achifarp in which – along with requiring information about an audit – he made “we present our annoyance as a member of the Association, due to the absolute lack of information about the inspection processes carried out by the Comptroller General of the Republic to the entitythe severity of which is of such magnitude that they culminated in the referral of the records to the Public Ministry and the State Defense Council.”
In that sense, on that occasion, he added that “these repeated lacks of information make the permanence of our Municipality in the Association unfeasible, a situation that I will bring to the attention of the Municipal Council.” Departure that materialized the same year.
The Achifarp board of directors, according to the organization’s statutes, was headed in his capacity as president by Jadue himself. The vice president of Achifarp was the then mayor of San Bernardo, Nora Cuevas (UDI)who after leaving the municipal seat of said commune is also being investigated for corruption crimes, but specifically regarding the use of school subsidy resources.
The second vice president of the organization is Codina, and the secretary of Achifarp is the mayor of Huechuraba, Carlos Cuadrado (PPD). The treasurer, as Jadue said, is Mayor Sharp and the general director is the mayor of Rauco, Enrique Olivares (PR). Further back, as director is the former mayor of Coyhaique Alejandro Huala (PS).
The participation of each of the association’s directors is something that has been demonstrated even on social networks. IN 2018, the Ministry of Health -led by Emilio Santelices at that time – reported the signing of an agreement between Achifarp and the ministerial portfolio, all in order to access cheaper medicines. At that signing of the agreement, Jadue, Cuevas, Codina, Cuadrado, among others, were present.
Furthermore, some of the directors also traveled to Cuba to sign an agreement in April of the same year. Something that, according to La Tercera last year, is also in the crosshairs of the Prosecutor’s Office.
