Joyvio, the controlling shareholder of Chilean salmon-farming firm Australis Seafoods, has confirmed it will continue pursuing criminal proceedings against businessman and former Australis Owner Isidoro Quiroga, as well as former executives of the company, after Santiago’s Fourth Guarantee Court rejected a request to reopen the firm’s investigation against Quiroga.
The drawn-out legal battle has been ongoing for years, beginning in 2023 when Joyvio first filed a lawsuit against Quiroga, seeking USD 1.22 billion (EUR 1.07 billion) in restitution and damages, accusing him and former Australis executives of fraud and unfair administration during the USD 921 million (EUR 809 million) sale of the firm in 2018. Joyvio alleged that Quiroga and the firm’s board of directors at the time hid, falsified, and adulterated critical information during the sale’s due diligence process, artificially inflating the company’s valuation when it came time to negotiate a sale.
The defendants have consistently rejected the accusations, calling them falsehoods and slander.
The Chilean Public Prosecutor's Office decided on 3 September to not pursue the case, citing insufficient evidence to justify an accusation against the accused, according to a brief filed with the Santiago Fourth Guarantee Court.
The prosecutor’s decision came after an exhaustive investigation that lasted more than three years and included more than 80 statements, 70 requests for information, and 26 instructions to the nation’s Investigative Police, in addition to dozens of technical and legal reports.
That decision was formally communicated on 9 October, and the court rejected all proceedings requested by Joyvio to try to reopen the investigation.
However, Joyvio now intends to seek authorization to pursue the prosecution independently, a legal mechanism that allows private complainants to request judicial authorization to bring charges and proceed to trial despite the Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office deciding not to pursue the case further.
Therefore, following the Santiago Fourth Guarantee Court’s ruling, Joyvio’s lawyers immediately requested a hearing to argue for such authorization. The hearing has now been scheduled for 15 March 2027.
Joyvio insists that there is sufficient evidence to bring the former controllers and former executives of Australis Seafoods to trial, stating the goal behind this latest move is to complete pending proceedings, including expert reports aimed at determining the economic damages and a criminalistic analysis of emails, according to lawyers representing Joyvio.
“Obviously, we did not get the [expected] result from these proceedings, but that does not mean the case is finished for us,” one of Joyvio’s lawyers, César Ramos, said in a statement sent to SeafoodSource. “We have multiple pieces of evidence, gathered both before and after the formalization of the investigation, that prove the crimes of fraud and disloyal administration.”
Ramos added that Joyvio disagrees with the decision of the Public Prosecutor to not pursue the case but the law provides alternatives that enables the plaintiff to replace the prosecutor.
“What we have to do is demonstrate to the court that we have sufficient evidence to take this case to an oral trial. Obviously, after years of investigation, we have hundreds of pieces of evidence that more than meet that requirement,” he said.
To date, Joyvio’s legal strategy has failed in cases dismissed in the U.S. and England.
