Chilean investigators were examining reports yesterday that 9 tonnes of gold had been found in a Hong Kong bank under the name of Augusto Pinochet. The gold, valued at US$160 million, was found during an ongoing investigation into tax evasion and money laundering by the former dictator.
"The information that has been given to us is, at the very least, to be taken seriously by the courts," said Alexandro Foxley, the Chilean foreign minister.
Foxley said the information was being analyzed swiftly in order to have embargo orders issued "very quickly." The authorities are seeking to prevent Pinochet getting access to the gold if the reports prove to be true.
Pinochet, 91, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, is under investigation for alleged human rights violations such as torture and the "disappearing" of political opponents, and financial crimes including money laundering.
Chilean press reports said the 3m3 of gold is being held in an HSBC warehouse. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory's de facto central bank, said it would investigate the reports.
A spokesman for HSBC in London said: "In response to media reports in Chile we have launched an investigation into this but have not had a formal approach from the Chilean authorities. The preliminary findings suggest that we do not have this gold."
If the reports turn out to be true, the gold would take Pinochet's estimated fortune to more than US$200 million, mostly held in more than 100 bank accounts under the names of his wife, children and advisers.
Pinochet advisers and his lawyer, Pablo Rodriguez, argue that the money comes from savings and wise investments.
"I was with General Pinochet and his family yesterday and I can say with absolute certainty that General Pinochet has never had a gram of gold in any of the banks indicated. If even 1g of gold exists overseas in General Pinochet's name, I will be the first to resign as his defense attorney," he said.
A Chilean government investigation ruled that the Pinochet fortune was obtained illegally, with much of the money apparently paid to the former dictator in weapons deals. Two years ago, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon ordered HSBC to turn over information about accounts held by the Pinochet family.
In the past week the Chilean supreme court authorized Garzon to interrogate Pinochet, his wife, Lucia, and top aides in a money laundering investigation. The judge is investigating how the former dictator evaded a 1998 order that froze his assets.
In a court settlement with Riggs Bank, Garzon retrieved US$8 million from Pinochet family accounts. The money is being used to compensate victims of the military dictatorship that tortured an estimated 35,000 people and killed 3,000.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in