Entered into the database on Monday, January 23rd, 2006 @ 14:49:25 MST
The wife and five children of Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean
dictator, have been arrested on charges of tax evasion as part of a broader
investigation into fraud and secret bank accounts. Court sources said on Monday that Judge Carlos Cerda ordered the arrest of Lucia
Hiriart, Pinochet's wife, and all of their children on charges of filing "maliciously
incomplete" and false tax declarations related to millions of dollars.
Cerda also ordered the arrests of Monica Ananias and Oscar Aitken, a personal
secretary of Pinochet and the former executor of Pinochet's will. Pinochet's family will be detained until Tuesday at least, when an appeals
court will decide whether to grant them bail. Tax crimes Pinochet was charged last year with evading taxes on an estimated $27 million
he hid in foreign accounts. Observers say Pinochet, 90, may end up facing prosecution for tax crimes before
any of the human rights charges that have mounted against him but for which he
has escaped prosecution for health reasons. Pinochet's wife and one of his sons were previously indicted as accomplices
in tax evasion, accused of using false documents and passports to help move
the money among secret accounts. His wife was briefly detained, and one son was jailed for a few weeks in August
until he was released on bail.
