The Chilean Prosecutor’s Office has formalized a case against the former owner and previous executives of salmon-farming firm Australis, alleging they knowingly inflated the value of the company artificially when they sold it in 2018 to Chinese firm Joyvio.
The prosecutor’s office specifically accused former Australis owner Isidoro Quiroga and former executives Martín Guiloff and Santiago Garretón of fraud and unfair administration.
Prosecutor Constanza Encina presented the case denouncing the maneuvers carried out by the firm’s previous administration, saying it conducted a “plan of sustained overproduction over time with respect to most of the production centers of Australis” that culminated in what prosecutors labeled a fraudulent sale.
Under the alleged scheme of producing salmon significantly beyond that allowed by its environmental permits, Australis reached a total production of 329,670 metric tons (MT) between 2018 and 2022, far exceeding the maximum allowable limit of 231,382 MT and artificially inflating the value of Australis Seafoods, according to the prosecutor’s document.
The document goes on to explain that the defendants maliciously implemented deliberate steps to conceal the irregularities from Joyvio during the due diligence process of the sale, falsely confirming that Australis complied with environmental regulations and possessed all the required permits...