The work of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the National Customs Service and the Ministry of the Interior of Chile achieved Two convictions for smuggling and the confiscation of 11 vehicles for auction due to misuse of the franchise 00.33, which allows Chileans returning from abroad to import used cars.
The decision was made on Tuesday (21.8.2018) in the Iquique Guarantee Court following a complaint filed by Customs in 2016. Another 11 involved received the benefit of conditional suspension, but the procedural situation of 47 defendants remains.
Case of 2016
"The case dates back to August 2016 "When the existence of people who maliciously accessed the benefit of importing a vehicle from abroad to import it under the general regime was detected," explained the Regional Director of the Iquique Customs, Dennys Beltrand.
«For this They presented false documents indicating that they were Chilean who had resided abroad for 18 months and were returning permanently to the country, for which reason they were eligible for the franchise of item 00.33, which allows the importation of a vehicle«he explained.
One of the convicted persons was involved in transactions with third parties and with Customs, and was sentenced to 61 days in prison and the confiscation of 7 vehicles. Meanwhile, the second convicted person is a resident who, after living abroad, “gave” his quota to another person in exchange for money, and received the same sentence.
Meanwhile, 11 people received a conditional suspension of the procedure in exchange for paying a fine to benefit the Hogar Águilas Blancas, while another four had to hand over their vehicles to Customs to be auctioned for fiscal benefit.
In 2017, Customs filed 63 complaints for item 00.33.
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