http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501824_pf.html
Chile Reports Finding Pinochet Gold Deposit in Asian Bank
By Jonathan Franklin
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, October 26, 2006; A19
SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 25 -- Chilean government investigators said Wednesday that they
had uncovered a multimillion-dollar gold deposit in a Hong Kong bank account in the name
of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
The 10 tons of gold, worth an estimated $160 million, was discovered by the Chilean
government during an investigation into tax evasion and money laundering by the former
dictator, authorities said.
Pinochet's lawyer, Pablo Rodríguez, denied the claim, saying his client "never had a gram
of gold in any of the banks indicated."
If confirmed, the finding would raise new concerns about other Pinochet financial holdings.
"The information that has been given to us is -- at the very least -- to be taken seriously by the courts,"
said Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley.
Chilean authorities are trying to prevent Pinochet, 90, or his lawyers from getting access to the gold
-- which judicial sources said is held in a stash of more than 1,000 ingots, according to Chilean news media.
Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 until 1990, is under investigation for human rights abuses and various
financial crimes. He currently maintains a posh home in Santiago, among other properties.
The gold is held by Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking, owned by banking giant HSBC, according
to Chilean press reports. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, a de facto central bank, said
Wednesday it would investigate the reports.
With this latest discovery, Pinochet's secret fortune is now estimated at more than $200 million,
much of it shuttled around the world among more than 100 bank accounts in the names of the
general's wife, children and top advisers.
Pinochet's advisers and his lawyer have argued that the money came from private donations,
savings and investments. But an investigation by the Chilean government has determined that
the Pinochet fortune was obtained illegally. Much of the money appears to have been paid to
Pinochet in weapons deals.
The discovery of the Hong Kong fortune raised new concerns in Chile that HSBC has not revealed
the full extent of its dealings with the dictator. Two years ago, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón ordered
the banking giant to turn over information about accounts held by the Pinochet family.
The investigation by Garzón was stepped up significantly in the past week as the Chilean Supreme
Court authorized him to interrogate Pinochet, his wife, Lucia, and top aides in a wide-ranging
money laundering investigation.
Garzón is investigating the process by which the former dictator evaded a 1998 order that froze his assets.
Since 1998, when he ordered the arrest of Pinochet in London, Garzón has doggedly pursued the ex-dictator,
first on human rights charges and now on allegations of financial crimes. Under Spanish law, anyone in the world
can be tried for human rights abuses against Spanish citizens.
In a court settlement reached with Riggs Bank, Garzón recovered $8 million from the Pinochet family accounts.
That money is being used to compensate victims of the military dictatorship that left about 3,000 Chileans dead
and an estimated 35,000 torture victims. In recent months, thousands of victims of the Pinochet government
received the first payments from the compensation fund.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Jan Rasmussen