Augusto Pinochet

A judge ordered the arrest Thursday of the widow and five children of former military strongman Augusto Pinochet on corruption charges stemming from more than $20 million found in Pinochet's U.S. bank accounts. Also ordered detained were five retired generals, half a dozen ex-colonels and other officers, several lawyers and ex-diplomats, and the former personal secretary of the late general, who was among the most notorious of South America's late 20th century dictators.

The widow and four of the children of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were cleared of embezzling millions of dollars of public funds during his 1973-90 rule. An appeals court in the capital, Santiago, said there was no evidence to suggest Pinochet's widow, Lucia Hiriart, and four of their five children were aware of the alleged embezzlement.

Chile's Supreme Court threw out embezzlement indictments that led to the brief detention of the widow and four children of dictator Augusto Pinochet. Justice Eduardo Chaigneau said a court panel voted 5 to 0 that Pinochet's widow and children could not be accused of embezzling government funds because they had never been government employees. The ruling also dropped charges against eight former aides.

A judge granted bail to former military strongman Augusto Pinochet in the case of nine dissidents who disappeared during his dictatorship, but the ex-general will remain under house arrest while another court reviews the decision. Judge Victor Montiglio set bail at $19,200 but said the Santiago Court of Appeals must uphold his decision before Pinochet can end his six-week house arrest. Pinochet, 90, has remained in his suburban Santiago mansion since Nov. 24.

Former dictator Augusto Pinochet can be tried in a case involving alleged abuses at an infamous torture center where Chile's president-elect was held nearly three decades ago when Pinochet was in power, a court ruled Friday. Now 90 and ailing, Pinochet is expected to appeal the judicial ruling stripping him of immunity, as he has done in several other cases in which courts have voided his immunity from prosecution.

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's wife and four grown children were arrested Monday in connection with an investigation of more than $20 million held in secret bank accounts linked to the ex-military strongman. Court officials in Santiago, the Chilean capital, told reporters that Judge Carlos Cerda ordered the arrest of Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart, and four of the couple's five children on tax fraud and other charges.

The wife and children of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were freed on bail a day after being arrested on tax fraud charges related to more than 100 foreign bank accounts containing millions of dollars. The Santiago court of appeals approved bail for Pinochet's wife, Lucia Hiriart, his youngest son, Marco Antonio, and his daughters Jacqueline and Veronica. Pinochet's eldest son, Augusto, had been released Monday.

Chile said it was confident that the United States would reject a political asylum request from the eldest daughter of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who fled her country because of tax fraud charges. Lucia Pinochet Hiriart was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody late Wednesday in Washington after nearly a day of questioning. She is considered a fugitive in Chile because of a widening tax evasion and fraud investigation involving the Pinochet family.

The eldest daughter of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was sent to Argentina, two days after she fled tax charges in Chile, a Homeland Security official said. Shortly after withdrawing her request for U.S. political asylum, Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, 60, was sent to the last country she was in before coming to the United States. She, her parents and four siblings face tax charges linked to her father's multimillion-dollar bank accounts.

The oldest daughter of former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was detained on tax evasion charges when she returned to Chile after dropping a bid for political asylum in the United States. Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, 60, was met by a judge after she arrived in Santiago, the capital. He served her notice of tax evasion and false passport charges.