El Mostrador announced that Alberto Eguiguren led a campaign on behalf of Chinese company Joyvio to deflect legal and public scrutiny from the company’s actions and toward former Australis executive Óscar Quiroga, with the dispute now shifting to U.S. courts.
According to El Mostrador, Alberto Eguiguren, a University of Chile–trained lawyer with a master’s degree from Duke, joined the Australis case around 2021, shortly after Joyvio’s acquisition of the company. He first resolved regulatory obstacles at the Dumestre processing plant, where Australis had been facing environmental and administrative delays. Eguiguren then developed a strategy to frame Joyvio as a victim of misrepresentation by Quiroga, orchestrating a campaign that included media outreach, legal filings, and meetings with Chilean regulators to advance Joyvio’s narrative.
As reported by Fundación Terram, the arbitration panel composed of Pedro Pablo Vergara, Andrés Jana, and Ramón Cifuentes ordered Isidoro Quiroga and his family to pay US$217 million plus interest, totaling nearly US$300 million. The ruling stated that Quiroga failed to fully disclose key production data—specifically, environmental overproduction violations—when selling Australis to Joyvio. While the tribunal rejected claims of intentional fraud, it accepted that inaccurate declarations in the sale agreement warranted financial redress, forcing Quiroga to return part of the purchase price.
Biobío Chile reported that Eguiguren and Joyvio executives made direct overtures to former Australis personnel to shape testimony in their favor. Rubén Henríquez, former legal manager of Australis, stated he was promised a financial reward and legal protections if he aligned with Joyvio’s case strategy, and warned of possible criminal exposure if he did not. The same report highlights the presentation of manipulated documents, selective evidence disclosure, and statements that misrepresented Australis’ environmental violations during arbitration proceedings.
Joyvio is a Chinese agribusiness conglomerate affiliated with Legend Holdings, known for its global expansion in food and health sectors. The company acquired Chile-based Australis Seafoods in 2019 for approximately US$920 million, a price later challenged through arbitration due to alleged nondisclosures in the sale. Since the acquisition, Joyvio has advanced a multipronged legal offensive—led by Alberto Eguiguren—including arbitration in Santiago, criminal complaints in Chile, and new civil claims filed in U.S. courts in Miami.