The MOP-Gate case (), was a high-profile investigation initiated by Judge

Gloria Ana Chevesich Gloria Ana Chevesich Ruiz (born 4 November 1958) is a Chilean lawyer and judge. She is currently a minister of the Supreme Court of Chile, and previously served as president and minister of the . Career Gloria Ana Chevesich graduated from the L ...

in 2003. The case exposed widespread corruption within the

Ministry of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(MOP) in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, involving the

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

of funds and irregularities in the awarding of contracts. The investigation revealed that contractors had received approximately 1,250 million Chilean pesos (equivalent to approximately 415,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

at the time) from the MOP for works that were either non-executed or overpriced. Instead of being used for their intended purposes, the funds were diverted to Gate ("Gestión Territorial y Ambiental"), a consulting firm that distributed the money to 129 MOP clerks as "extra money." As a result of the probe, a total of 22 individuals from both the public and private sectors were charged with various crimes, including defrauding the state, fraud, and residual fraud. The case remained in the headlines for several years, with supporters of Judge Chevesich commending her efforts to combat corruption within the government, particularly under the administration of the

Concertación The Concertación, officially the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia ( en, Coalition of Parties for Democracy), was a coalition of center-left political parties in Chile, founded in 1988. Presidential candidates under its banner won ...

coalition. However, detractors dismissed the case as a politically motivated witch hunt. Following a seven-year investigation, several individuals were convicted. The head of the Ministry of Public Works, Carlos Cruz, was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay damages of 800,000,000 Chilean pesos (approximately 1.6 million USD) to the Chilean State. Other convictions included Sergio Cortés, the director of Concessions, who received a three-year sentence, Eduardo Balbontín and Gonzalo Castillo, former director of the Directorate of Hydraulic Works and the MOP Undersecretary's chief of staff, respectively, who received sentences of 61 days each. Nazir Sapag, the former director of CIADE at the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, received a 200-day sentence, while Óscar Peña Véliz, the owner of Gate consulting, and Óscar Araos were sentenced to 61 days and 541 days, respectively. All jail sentences were suspended. As a result of the MOP-Gate scandal, significant reforms were implemented in Chile. In 2004, the Alta Dirección Pública (ADP), or Public High Management, was established as a crucial step toward creating a professional and merit-based

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. The ADP was a direct response to the political consensus reached after the scandal, aiming to reduce the number of political appointees in public administration and improve efficiency and transparency. The "New Deal" law, passed in 2003 during the government of

Ricardo Lagos Ricardo Froilán Lagos Escobar (; born 2 March 1938) is a Chilean lawyer, economist and Social democracy, social-democratic politician who served as president of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During the 1980s he was a well-known opponent of the Mil ...

, provided the framework for these reforms and sought to enhance the integrity and effectiveness of the public sector.The Merit of Civil Service Reform
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812233701/http://businesschile.cl/en/news/reportaje-principal/merit-civil-service-reform, date=2011-08-12, retrieved on 16 Mai 2011

References

External links

CHILE: AT HALF-WAY POINT IN TERM, PRESIDENT RICARDO LAGOS BATTLES CORRUPTION SCANDALS
Political scandals in Chile Corruption in Chile 2003 in Chile Presidency of Ricardo Lagos