Noticias

As part of its program to enhance investigative techniques for cartel prosecution, the Chilean National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) created an Intelligence Unit, as of today, that will report directly to the Anti-Cartel Division.This Unit will be responsible for a cartel detection system based on data science, which is currently under development by economists and data scientists.The new unit will also work on the improvement of available investigative techniques, including the preparation and execution of dawn raids and wiretaps, the development of intelligence based on open, public and private sources, as well as fostering collaboration with international teams and agencies.Additionally, this team will seek to implement a follow-up program aiming to provide support to complainants and informants in collusion cases that may require it.The National Economic Prosecutor, Ricardo Riesco, explained that the creation of the Intelligence Unit consolidates various internal projects which had as a relevant milestone the international workshop on tools and techniques for the detection and persecution of cartels held in 2019, in which attorneys and agents of the FBI and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) participated.The Intelligence Unit will be directed by Constanza Castelblanco, a lawyer from the Adolfo Ibáñez University who holds a diploma in Competition Law and Policy from the University of Chile. Mrs. Castelblanco has worked for the institution for more than five years and has extensive experience in high-profile collusion cases, in addition to being in charge of the organization and execution of intrusive measures within the Anti-Cartel Division to date.”The Intelligence Unit will contribute decisively to the materialization of two of the main priorities of the FNE: the persecution of ex officio cartels and the sophistication of our investigative tools, in line with the best international practices”, said the Prosecutor.

This is the second unit recently created in the FNE. The first was the Compliance Control Unit, which is responsible for adherence to Article 4 bis of DL 211, observance of mitigation measures established in concentration operations, and compliance with resolutions of the Competition Tribunal or the Supreme Court. This team began operating in April 2019 and is led by attorney Manfred Zink.