Versión Español
EspañolA Chilean court has ruled to end the investigation phase regarding the origin of the secret bank accounts deceased dictator Augusto Pinochet managed abroad. Judge Manuel Valderrama has the information necessary to issue charges against former military officers who were close to Pinochet.
The investigation was opened in June, 2004, when the former dictator could not justify some accounts in Riggs bank, discovered as a result of a US Senate report on the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.
At present, the Pinochet-era officials facing prosecution are the retired generals Jorge Ballerino, Ramón Castro, and Sergio Moreno, as well as former military officers Eugenio Castillo, Gabriel Vergara and Juan MacLean.
Pinochet, who governed from 1973 through 1990, opened 10 other bank accounts since 1985, using the false identity of “Daniel López.” In 2004, his fortune was estimated to be US$20 million.
Source: Reuters.
