Chile judge charges Pinochet son with tax crimes
Source: Reuters
SANTIAGO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A Chilean judge on Monday formally charged former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet's youngest son and two former aides with tax crimes. The widow and five children of the late Chilean dictator were arrested in October 2007 as part of an investigation into allegations he stole $27 million of public funds and hid it in foreign banks, but were later released. Judge Blanca Rojas charged Pinochet's youngest son, Marco Antonio, as well as the former dictator's executor, Oscar Aitken, and secretary, Monica Ananias, with making false or incomplete tax declarations. "This is void because he has not been allowed to defend himself according to the law and tax code," said Luis Pacull, Marco Antonio Pinochet's lawyer. "We are going to be asking for this accusation to be made void." Pinochet, who died in 2006, never faced a full trial for crimes committed during his 1973-90 dictatorship, when around 3,000 people were killed and another 28,000 were tortured -- most of them suspected leftists. The year before he died, Pinochet was charged with tax evasion linked to the estimated $27 million. He was also being investigated for fraud and embezzlement related to that money, which was frozen pending court cases. (Reporting by Erik Lopez and Monica Vargas)
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