Chilean judge on the hunt for new Pinochet accounts

Chilean judge on the hunt for new Pinochet accounts
Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:11 PM ET

SANTIAGO, Chile, July 26 (Reuters) - A judge probing the bank accounts of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on Tuesday ordered a search for new suspected secret accounts in foreign countries.

Judge Sergio Munoz ordered accounts to be investigated in Colombia, Panama, Cayman Islands, Germany, the United States, Bahamas, England and Spain, sources close to the process told Reuters.

Munoz began to investigate Pinochet's finances last year and in a recent court filing said he found that Pinochet and his family hid up to $17 million in more than 100 foreign bank accounts, often under false names.

A Chilean appeals court voted in June to strip the ex-dictator of immunity from prosecution so he could face tax fraud and other charges related to millions of dollars he held in secret bank accounts.
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http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-07-26T231133Z_01_N26185866_RTRIDST_0_CHILE-PINOCHET-REPEAT.XML

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Updated: Tuesday, 26 July, 2005, 06:34 GMT 07:34 UK

Pinochet's wife quizzed by judge
By Clinton Porteous
BBC News, Santiago

Mrs Pinochet was questioned for more than an hour, reports say
The wife of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet has been questioned over secret foreign bank accounts held by her and her husband.

It is the second time Lucia Pinochet has been interviewed by a judge within a year and comes at a crucial time.

In June, a lower court stripped Gen Pinochet of his legal protection over four alleged crimes linked to more than $13m (£7m) in overseas accounts.

Gen Pinochet's lawyers are appealing, saying the funds were legally obtained.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4716669.stm



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In this never-before-published photograph, General Augusto Pinochet (second
from left) and President Salvador Allende (in white jacket) are seen on a trip in
northern Chile in the months before the 1973 coup that left Allende dead and
Pinochet in command of the government. Photograph: Fundacion Salvador
Allende

The Pinochet files

A series of declassified US documents have revealed the extent of America's role in the Chilean coup, reports Jonathan Franklin

http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,13755,1038615,00.html



Bombing of the Presidential Palace, La Moneda, Santiago, Chile
September 11, 1973 prior to Pinochet's installation as Chile's pResident.