The latest lawsuit filed by Chilean billionaire and former Australis owner Isidoro Quiroga against Chinese seafood firm Joyvio, which currently owns Chilean salmon-farming firm Australis, is accusing the company of employing threats, witness tampering, and false statements in its legal action against Quiroga.
Joyvio purchased Australis from Quiroga in 2018 for USD 921 million (EUR 808 million). Following the sale, Joyvio alleged Quiroga engaged in hiding, falsifying, and adulterating critical information during the sales process – including what the company now deems was deliberate overproduction to inflate salmon production numbers and, therefore, the company’s valuation when it came time to negotiate a sale.
In 2023, Joyvio filed a lawsuit against Quiroga seeking USD 1.22 billion (EUR 1.07 billion) in restitution and damages and accused Quiroga and former Australis executives of fraud and unfair administration. The defendants have called the accusations “falsehoods and slander,” questioning why the accusations surfaced years after the purchase. In January 2025, Chile’s Prosecutor's Office accused Quiroga and former executives Martín Guiloff and Santiago Garretón of fraud and unfair administration in relation to the suit.
The defendants have now responded, with the Quiroga family filing a complaint in the Fourth Court of Guarantee of Santiago accusing Australis’s current CEO Andrés Lyon and the Chinese representatives of the company – Shaopeng Chen, Yonggun Huang, Tang Yin, Qingtong Zhou, and Xuanli Wu – of obstructing the investigation into the dispute.
According to a new 99-page suit which accuses Joyvio executives of foul play, Joyvio Executive President Shaopeng Chen threatened the Chilean state after the sale, saying Chinese authorities felt that not only Joyvio, but the Chinese government in general, had been scammed in the deal.
The document also accuses Australis CEO Andrés Lyon of emitting false statements, despite having information indicating otherwise, and supposedly withholding key information during due process.
Another more serious accusation in the lawsuit has to do with witness tampering …
