Reply #1: NYT: Bank papers detail millions in Pinochet payments [View All]

International Herald Tribune

Bank papers detail millions in Pinochet payments
By Timothy L. O'Brien and Larry Rohter The New York Times Wednesday, December 8, 2004

General Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, received multimillion-dollar payments from the governments of several countries, including the United States, during his 25-year tenure as Chile's ruler and military chief, according to documents uncovered during a U.S. Senate committee investigation into suspected money laundering at Riggs Bank.
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The documents, including Pinochet's sworn financial statements, show that he received $3 million from the U.S. government in 1976, as well as $1.5 million from Paraguay, $1 million from Spain, $2.5 million from China, a combined payment of $3 million from Britain, Malaysia and Brazil, and a combined payment of $2.5 million from Britain and China in other years. From 1974 to 1997, the payments totaled at least $12.3 million.
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The documents, originally given to Riggs by the Chilean Defense Ministry, were verified by a senior Riggs executive assessing the sources of the general's wealth. The payments from foreign governments were described as "commissions from service and travel abroad."
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Pinochet, who is 89, assumed control of the Chilean government in 1973 after overthrowing the elected government of Salvador Allende. He instituted a police state, oversaw the kidnapping and killing of some 4,000 political dissidents, laid the foundation of a stable economy and kept a tight grip on the Chilean government until 1990. He remained commander in chief of the military until 1998. He faces potential charges of human rights abuses in Chile as well as legislative and tax service investigations there of his financial dealings.
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