Marcos Daughter Has $13.2-Billion Secret Swiss Account
March 9, 1999 - 0:0
MANILA The youngest daughter of deposed Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has a $13.2-billion Swiss account kept secret from the public by the Philippine government, a newspaper reported Monday. The funds are allegedly deposited in the Union Bank of Switzerland in the name of Irene Araneta, according to Reiner Jacobi, an Australian investigator hired by the government to track down wealth allegedly stolen by the Marcos's. The government agency which hired him has known about the account the biggest Marcos wealth discovered so far since April 1998, but its new chair has tried to block efforts to recover the funds, Jacobi told the Philippine daily Inquirer. Jacobi also accused the chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Magdangal Elma, of having a personal agenda and (of being) unusually interested in protecting account no.
885931 for another person or persons. Computer print-outs allegedly obtained from the UBS supported his claims of a Marcos account earlier entered into the name of a private foundation called Sandy Anstalt. This was maintained in and transferred to the name of Irene Araneta in 1992, Jacobi said. Irene Araneta is the married name of Marcos's daughter who has been out of the political limelight for some time.
The Australian investigator told the newspaper he was set to file Monday a writ of injunction with a special graft court accusing Elma of blocking recovery of the Araneta account. Previous PCGG chiefs earlier conducted low profile inquiries into the funds but had failed to have the account frozen by the bank, Jacobi said. There is something definitely rotten in the (current) PCGG, Jacobi said.
Time is of the essence. There is a certain danger that the account in question may be manipulated, diverted and hidden to the irreparable damage and prejudice of the Filipino people, he said. Ferdinand Marcos is accused of looting billions from government coffers during his 20-year reign. He died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 three years after a popular revolt toppled his regime.
However, manila has yet to recover a single centavo from the stolen funds in 13 years of litigation. Prior to the discovery of the Araneta accounts, the largest known Marcos fund were some $590 million originally stashed in two Swiss banks but are now held in escrow at a state- controlled bank. Last month, the Marcos family had agreed to a $150-million settlement deal with some 10,000 human rights victims during the Marcos dictatorship, which would be taken from the escrow account.
(AFP)
885931 for another person or persons. Computer print-outs allegedly obtained from the UBS supported his claims of a Marcos account earlier entered into the name of a private foundation called Sandy Anstalt. This was maintained in and transferred to the name of Irene Araneta in 1992, Jacobi said. Irene Araneta is the married name of Marcos's daughter who has been out of the political limelight for some time.
The Australian investigator told the newspaper he was set to file Monday a writ of injunction with a special graft court accusing Elma of blocking recovery of the Araneta account. Previous PCGG chiefs earlier conducted low profile inquiries into the funds but had failed to have the account frozen by the bank, Jacobi said. There is something definitely rotten in the (current) PCGG, Jacobi said.
Time is of the essence. There is a certain danger that the account in question may be manipulated, diverted and hidden to the irreparable damage and prejudice of the Filipino people, he said. Ferdinand Marcos is accused of looting billions from government coffers during his 20-year reign. He died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 three years after a popular revolt toppled his regime.
However, manila has yet to recover a single centavo from the stolen funds in 13 years of litigation. Prior to the discovery of the Araneta accounts, the largest known Marcos fund were some $590 million originally stashed in two Swiss banks but are now held in escrow at a state- controlled bank. Last month, the Marcos family had agreed to a $150-million settlement deal with some 10,000 human rights victims during the Marcos dictatorship, which would be taken from the escrow account.
(AFP)