Over US$100m 'hidden in Pinochet accounts'

A US lawyer hired to track down hidden assets of Augusto Pinochet said today that he had identified more than US$100 ($156.88) million in bank accounts linked to the former Chilean dictator.

"It's in excess of US$100 million to be sure," said Pedro Martinez-Fraga of the Miami-based Greenberg Traurig law firm.

He spoke at an anti-money laundering conference in Hollywood, north of Miami, and said he had been following the money trail of Pinochet - who ruled Chile with an iron fist from 1973 to 1990 - for a year and a half after being hired for the job by the Chilean government.

"I'm not confident at all that we have found all the funds," Martinez-Fraga said of Pinochet and his offshore bank accounts, which first came to light two years ago in a US Senate probe of possible money laundering at US banks.

Chile's courts have since found more than a hundred accounts linked to Pinochet under different names.

"This money is in flux, the game ongoing," Martinez-Fraga said. "We're taking a lot of steps to curtail the movement (of funds)," he added.

Separately, in remarks to reporters on the sidelines of the conference, Martinez-Fraga said he expected to be hired soon to look into whether funds were stashed in secret bank accounts by ex-Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and his notorious former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos.

"It would be an inquiry into Fujimori and Montesinos," he said. "The government of Chile recommended my services," he added without elaborating.

Fujimori currently faces probable extradition from Chile to Peru on human rights and corruption charges.

- REUTERS