SQM Wins Prosecutor Reprieve in Chile Campaign Funding Case

Patricio Contesse, who until Monday served as Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA chief executive officer, won an injunction to stop SQM’s offices being raided as part of tax and campaign-funding probe by the prosecutor’s office.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, Chile’s constitutional court ordered prosecutors to suspend an investigation into the Santiago-based fertilizer producer’s accounts until a March 25 hearing, when a final ruling would be made, Chilean newspapers including Diario Financiero reported. A court official, who isn’t an authorized spokesman, confirmed the decision when contacted by telephone in Santiago.