RTFA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7028503….

A Chilean judge has ordered the arrest of five children and the widow of former military ruler Augusto Pinochet on charges of embezzlement.

The warrants were among 23 issued as part of a corruption investigation into state funds held in US bank accounts.

Gen Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, died in December 2006 before he could stand trial on charges of corruption and human rights abuses.

That lovable South American fascist dictator, who is already dead, is still being hounded, karmically, through his living relatives. Even though his assets were frozen circa 2000, it seems Pinochet and his family still had access to millions of dollars, which were being laundered through (wait for it) Riggs Bank.

As you might have inferred from the stream of posts currently on RTFA (Riggs’ Pinochet guilty plea, Riggs sight-seeing, and Riggs ten dollar bill), this bank has a long and colorful history. Yet, the bank collapsed anyway, and this is rather surprising. You see, Riggs was such an important bank in Washington DC that it financed the Mexican-American war and the Alaska purchase.

Weird. It probably doesn’t mean anything, except that Pinochet’s family is currently being arrested for the money that came from accounts held at Riggs Bank.

RTFA: http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/marxism/200…

Riggs Is Set to Plead Guilty to Crime
Fine Could Hit $18 Million
In Money-Laundering Case;
PNC Deal’s Fate Is Unclear

By JOHN R. WILKE and MITCHELL PACELLE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 26, 2005

WASHINGTON - Riggs Bank N.A., whose international dealings
helped trigger a federal crackdown on money laundering by
U.S. financial institutions, is expected to plead guilty to
a criminal charge arising from its services for foreign
embassies and wealthy clients, including former Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The Riggs board has been presented with a plea agreement by
prosecutors in which the bank would admit to one count of
violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to file reports
to regulators on suspicious transfers and withdrawals by
clients, people close to the case said.

Directors are expected to accept the plea and the bank
would pay a fine of between $16 million and $18 million.
The deal could be announced as soon as tomorrow, these
people said.

(more…)

Sphere: Related Content