Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet had 125 secret bank accounts holding cash, stocks and bonds in the US, allowing him to move at least US$13 million, the US Senate reported on Tuesday.
"New information shows that the web of Pinochet accounts in the US was far more extensive, went on far longer and involved more banks than was previously disclosed," Senator Carl Levin said.
In June, the Senate revealed that Pinochet had accounts at Riggs Bank in Washington, which may have held as much as US$8 million.
The Senate investigations subcommittee announced on Tuesday that Pinochet had 28 accounts at Riggs and 97 elsewhere: Citigroup, Banco de Chile, Espiritu Santo in Florida, Banco Atlantico, Bank of America and at Coutts and Co, owned by Banco Santander since 2003.
Pinochet, 89, rose to power after a coup toppled elected Socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973 and ruled with an iron fist until 1990.
Pinochet and his supporters have claimed that he was a selfless military man who saved Chile from a Socialist president.
"Through lax due diligence or worse, too many banks allowed a notorious public figure, Augusto Pinochet, to build a secret web of US accounts using offshore corporations, deceptive account names and third-party conduits to hide his role in moving millions of dollars across international lines," Levin said in a statement.
Pinochet and members of his family are known to have deposited between US$4 million and US$8 million at Riggs Bank in Washington.
Judge Sergio Munoz, in charge of the investigation in Santiago, found that Pinochet and his wife, Lucia Hiriart, had salted away US$15.9 million in various bank accounts, most of them in the US.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
SCAM CLAMPDOWN: About 130 South Korean scam suspects have been sent home since October last year, and 60 more are still waiting for repatriation Dozens of South Koreans allegedly involved in online scams in Cambodia were yesterday returned to South Korea to face investigations in what was the largest group repatriation of Korean criminal suspects from abroad. The 73 South Korean suspects allegedly scammed fellow Koreans out of 48.6 billion won (US$33 million), South Korea said. Upon arrival in South Korea’s Incheon International Airport aboard a chartered plane, the suspects — 65 men and eight women — were sent to police stations. Local TV footage showed the suspects, in handcuffs and wearing masks, being escorted by police officers and boarding buses. They were among about 260 South
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
RSS