The legal defense for Pedro Pablo Larraín, founder and former controller of the Sartor group, has pushed back against the financial loss calculations presented by prosecutors during the ongoing formalization hearings in the DF proceedings. The Ministry Público has estimated that the total losses inflicted upon investors and contributors reach approximately $190 million, according to T13.cl, or roughly $191 million in prosecution filings.
Defense Challenges Prosecution Loss Figure in Sartor Case
During the hearings addressing preventative detention requests for Larraín and four other co-accused individuals—Michael Clark, Carlos Larraín, Sergio Yáñez, and Rodrigo Bustamante—defense attorney Jaime Winter argued that the prosecution’s figures are heavily inflated. Winter contended that investigators incorrectly treated total financial exposure as an actual realized loss without providing a clear methodology or operational breakdown.
Arguments Over Exposure Versus Actual Losses
Winter told the court that the prosecution fundamentally equated exposure, representing the total amount involved in a specific investment or issuer, with a definitive financial injury. According to the defense, actual losses depend entirely on the resources that ultimately fail to be recovered from transactions.
To support this claim, the defense pointed to external evaluations, noting that a report prepared by PwC projected asset recovery rates ranging between 33% and 100% depending on the specific operation. Winter cited specific examples to illustrate that numerous questioned transactions were designed to fulfill valid fund objectives rather than cause harm:
* Faena Residences Miami: A US real estate project where investment funds hold a 17% stake through the parent matrix company Downtown Investment, carrying a projected return of approximately $200 million. * Autofidem: An automotive lending company designed to provide financing while giving the funds supervisory control over operational risks, backed by an audit report detecting 773 interest payment vouchers totaling $3.063 billion pesos. * ECapital: A significant factoring entity handling operations exceeding $200 million in 2018, where restructuring debt following localized fraud was framed as a protective step to maximize investor recovery.
Scope of Charges and Co-Accused Responses
The massive judicial proceeding involves 11 formalization targets facing accusations including disloyal administration, incompatible negotiation, dissemination of false market information, fraud, money laundering, and omission regarding public tender offers (OPA). Pedro Pablo Larraín faces multiple charges as the former controller holding a 60.3% stake in the financial conglomerate he co-founded in 2012.
Other defendants have similarly sought to distance themselves from key operational decisions. Rodrigo Piergentili, representing former Sartor general manager Juan Carlos Jorquera, argued that his client held a strictly secondary role, entered the position in December 2023, and did not participate in credit committees or fund management. Meanwhile, Michael Clark’s defense emphasized that he never held equity or signing authority within Sartor, maintaining that his historical involvement as a director and credit committee member from 2020 to 2024 remained marginal alairelibre.cl.
Legal proceedings continue as the court evaluates the necessity of preventative measures amid ongoing arguments from both prosecutors and defense teams adnradio.cl. Under judicial guidelines, all current allegations remain unproven accusations until a formal court sentence is delivered elmostrador.cl.
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