Post by Moses on Mar 16, 2005 10:49:37 GMT -5
New links to Pinochet at U.S. banks are disclosed
By Eric Dash The New York Times
Thursday, March 17, 2005
A U.S. Senate committee report that was made public on Wednesday suggests that the ties between General Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, and U.S. financial institutions were deeper and more extensive than previously disclosed.
.Senate investigators found that Pinochet was able to move millions of dollars through more than 125 bank accounts in the United States, based on new information handed over by the institutions. The 86-page report showed that the money-laundering scandal that initially focused on Riggs Bank, a Washington-based institution that linked the financial and political worlds, had broadened to involve at least eight other institutions that operate in the United States and around the globe.
.In July, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concluded that Riggs executives and bank regulators, even after Sept. 11, 2001, had failed to monitor suspicious financial transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, the committee identified accounts showing that Riggs had an eight-year association with Pinochet. But the new report says that both Riggs and Citigroup had ties to him that went back more than two decades, with accounts totaling at least $9 million held by members of his family, close associates or by him personally.
.The report also says that accounts at Bank of America, Banco de Chile in the United States, Espirito Bank in Miami and four offshore private banks could be linked to the former dictator.
.
.Riggs declined to comment on the report except to say that none of the employees involved remained at the company. A Citigroup statement acknowledged the report's factual findings on past events. Representatives of the other banks either could not be reached or declined to comment. All financial institutions named in the report cooperated with the investigation.
.Although Pinochet's relationship with Citigroup dates from 1981, all of the accounts were opened under disguised versions of his name.
.Citigroup told Senate investigators that it closed those accounts in the mid-1990s when it found out otherwise. Since 1998, all accounts belonging to other members of Pinochet's family have been closed, except for one that has been frozen.
By Eric Dash The New York Times
Thursday, March 17, 2005
A U.S. Senate committee report that was made public on Wednesday suggests that the ties between General Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, and U.S. financial institutions were deeper and more extensive than previously disclosed.
.Senate investigators found that Pinochet was able to move millions of dollars through more than 125 bank accounts in the United States, based on new information handed over by the institutions. The 86-page report showed that the money-laundering scandal that initially focused on Riggs Bank, a Washington-based institution that linked the financial and political worlds, had broadened to involve at least eight other institutions that operate in the United States and around the globe.
.In July, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations concluded that Riggs executives and bank regulators, even after Sept. 11, 2001, had failed to monitor suspicious financial transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, the committee identified accounts showing that Riggs had an eight-year association with Pinochet. But the new report says that both Riggs and Citigroup had ties to him that went back more than two decades, with accounts totaling at least $9 million held by members of his family, close associates or by him personally.
.The report also says that accounts at Bank of America, Banco de Chile in the United States, Espirito Bank in Miami and four offshore private banks could be linked to the former dictator.
.
.Riggs declined to comment on the report except to say that none of the employees involved remained at the company. A Citigroup statement acknowledged the report's factual findings on past events. Representatives of the other banks either could not be reached or declined to comment. All financial institutions named in the report cooperated with the investigation.
.Although Pinochet's relationship with Citigroup dates from 1981, all of the accounts were opened under disguised versions of his name.
.Citigroup told Senate investigators that it closed those accounts in the mid-1990s when it found out otherwise. Since 1998, all accounts belonging to other members of Pinochet's family have been closed, except for one that has been frozen.
