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Original article: Revés judicial para senador Calisto: TC declara inadmisible su requerimiento y se reactiva causa por fraude al Fisco

In a challenging situation for Senator Miguel Ángel Calisto (IND), the Constitutional Court (TC) has declared inadmissible the request for unconstitutionality that he filed, thus reactivating the case against him for fraud against the Treasury.

Through this legal action, the senator aimed to have the TC declare inapplicable a portion of the Criminal Procedure Code that stipulates that reopening procedures can only be ordered if they were timely requested during the investigation period. His attorneys argue that this provision violates the right to defense.

To declare the request inadmissible, the court argued that the contested provision would not have a decisive nature regarding the pending matter, as required by article 84 No. 5 of Law No. 17.997. It asserted that the application of the expression «that which had been timely requested during the investigation» was merely hypothetical because the Public Ministry opposed the procedures based on their relevance, not because they were untimely, reducing the debate to a merit assessment that the guarantee judge will resolve without necessarily applying the challenged norm.

Secondly, the TC found that the request lacked plausible grounds, thus establishing the cause of article 84 No. 6. It pointed out that the core of the conflict was not a question of concrete constitutionality but a mere legal controversy regarding the interpretation and application of article 257 of the Criminal Procedure Code, specifically to determine whether the procedures requested by the defense after reopening the investigation complied with the temporal requirement of having been requested «timely.» The Tribunal concluded that resolving this interpretive dispute and
«unpacking the meaning and scope of procedural law» is a task that «exclusively belongs to the guarantee judge handling the matter.»

«It is not possible to plausibly found a question of inapplicability,» stated the court.

Coyhaique Guarantee Court Reactivates Case Against Calisto

As previously announced on July 23, the case against Calisto for fraud against the Treasury had been temporarily frozen while the admissibility of the request was being resolved. However, following the TC ruling, the Coyhaique Guarantee Court confirmed that it has lifted the suspension of the proceedings.

Before the suspension was applied «until the ruling on admissibility,» the Court had ordered a 60-day reopening of the investigation Calisto is facing.

According to the TC resolution, on June 25, the Public Ministry had communicated in writing the closure of the investigation and presented the indictment against the senator for his alleged involvement in a corruption scheme involving a fraud against the Treasury exceeding $100 million.

However, the investigation took a turn after two co-defendants changed their statements, prompting the Guarantee Court to set a hearing originally scheduled for July 27 to discuss the reopening of the investigation, which was postponed pending the court’s ruling.

Fraud Against the Treasury Exceeding $100 Million

It is important to remember that the case began in 2021 following a complaint regarding possible fraud in the use of funds intended for parliamentary allocations. According to Aysén’s Prosecutor’s Office, there are indications linking Calisto, while serving as a deputy, to a scheme where public funds may have been diverted for his benefit through the hiring of advisories. In turn, the current senator’s defense denies the charges, asserting that the questioned services were indeed provided.

At the end of June, the Public Ministry officially charged Calisto and seven others, seeking a 12-year prison sentence for the senator for an alleged fraud exceeding $100 million related to the aforementioned advisories.

Simultaneously, the State Defense Council (CDE) filed a civil lawsuit against Calisto, seeking to recover more than $131 million that may have been fraudulently obtained from the National Congress and the Regional Government (Gore) of Aysén.

The most significant amount the CDE seeks to recover is $105,554,697, corresponding to money that the legislative body allegedly disbursed for parliamentary advisories. According to the evidence collected in the lawsuit, between 2018 and 2022, Calisto allegedly conspired with Roland Cárcamo and Carla Graf—both accused—to access public funds through a fraudulent scheme involving Graf’s hiring as a parliamentary advisor to the then-deputy, despite the fact that, the agency claims, she did not effectively fulfill the agreed-upon functions.

The lawsuit details that the advisory contracts were merely a facade and that Calisto took the necessary actions before the Lower House to finalize Graf’s hiring, knowing she would not meet the committed advisories. During that time, Roland Cárcamo was allegedly providing political advisory services to Calisto while Graf was formally listed as a parliamentary advisor receiving payments from the public treasury.

However, the process underwent a significant change when Cárcamo and Graff retracted their testimonies; this situation was the catalyst for reopening the case for an additional 60 days.

Consequently, the Court of Appeals of Puerto Montt decided to suspend the hearing that would analyze the new request for immunity withdrawal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office, as the code of procedure states that such matters can only be processed with the investigation closed.

In September 2025, the Supreme Court confirmed his immunity while serving as a deputy, but after being elected senator last November, Calisto regained his immunity as constitutionally mandated.

Following the setback suffered in the TC and the reactivation of the case by the Coyhaique Guarantee Court, the Public Ministry will have to prove in court the existence of a fraudulent scheme against the Treasury based on allegedly irregular refunds.

La entrada Judicial Setback for Senator Calisto: Constitutional Court Declares His Request Inadmissible, Reactivating Fraud Case se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.