JUDGE IN CHILE SETS PINOCHET’S SECRET FORTUNE AT US$27 MILLION

[seemslikeadream]

Amount May Be Greater, Once Further Inquiries Are Responded To

(Oct. 10, 2005) Former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet channeled US$27 million into secret foreign bank accounts over a period of 25 years while he led the nation and its army, said investigating Judge Sergio Muñoz late last week.

Judge Muñoz provided a detailed, eleven page power-point explanation of Pinochet’s suspect wealth and financial dealings to both defense and plaintiffs’ attorneys last Thursday afternoon, the combined effort of his investigation and an investigation carried out by Brilac, a special police unit devoted to money laundering investigations. The investigation confirmed that Pinochet used more than 120 different bank accounts or financial instruments to hide his wealth, and that the US$26,992,712.02 total is an accurate count.

Pinochet’s defense attorneys said that the former dictator’s secret wealth has been widely exaggerated because monies that were moved from one account to another were tallied two or three times by investigating authorities. Following Judge Muñoz’s presentation, they said they would conduct an audit of their own.

The bulk of the money – US$20 million – was deposited in Pinochet’s secret accounts after he stepped down as president in 1990, Muñoz said. He added that the former dictator brought US$5.6 million back into Chile between 1991 and 2004 without making proper declarations to tax authorities.

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Judge Muñoz is seeking to strip Pinochet of the legal immunity he enjoys as a former head of state so that he may be prosecuted for tax fraud in the Riggs Bank case. Muñoz has also indicted Pinochet family members and a small circle of close associates for tax fraud related crimes. Pinochet’s wife Lucia Hiriart was arrested as an accomplice to tax fraud, as was his youngest son, Marco Antonio (ST, Aug. 12). Both were freed upon payment of bail.

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