HUBER INTERSECTS WITH RIGGS

(Oct. 3, 2005) The long and complex web of illegal arms trafficking is beginning to unravel as Special Investigator Claudio Pavez and Attorney Sergio Muñoz discover more clues surrounding decades of arms purchases, bribes, and murders. New facts are shedding light on the mysterious death of Colonel Gerardo Huber, who disappeared in January 1992 only to turn up three weeks later floating dead in the Maipo River.

Since Judge Pavez determined that Col. Huber was in fact murdered and did not commit suicide as initially reported by military investigators (ST, Sept. 20), the trail of clues and testimony has led him to conclude that Huber’s death was definitely related to the illegal arms shipments to Croatia in December 1991.

Facts from the Huber case now connect the homicide with the Riggs Bank case, a secret money laundering scheme that Pinochet used to hide illegal arms commissions he and others have been receiving since at least 1991. The web of payments and secret accounts was initially discovered by a U.S. Senate money laundering report in 2004 (ST, July 16, 2004), however, full details surrounding the complex network are still being uncovered.

Investigators believe that Pinochet used his position as former commander in chief of Chile’s armed forces to negotiate a number of very high-profile arms deals with European arms manufactures BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) and Belgium Mirage. The companies contracted with Chile to produce military weaponry for world export during the 1990s and, it seems, agreed to pay Gen. Pinochet and his inner-circle handsomely for their role in the contracts.

While still unclear, Sergio Muñoz, chief investigator in the Riggs bank case and recently-nominated member to Chile’s Supreme Court, believes that Pinochet has received at least US$ 27 million in illegal commissions from arms sales that he laundered in at least 91 different bank accounts and holding companies around the world. Last Thursday, Judge Muñoz interrogated all five of Pinochet’s children about any possible involvement they may have had in the fraud.

Recent discoveries and documents recovered from the myriad bank accounts are enabling investigators to learn more about what exactly took place during Pinochet’s time as commander of the armed forces.

One recent discovery connects General Luis Iracabal, former Director of the Chilean Army Weapon Factory, to an offshore investment company in the Virgin Islands that received illegal arms commissions during the 1990s. After investigators linked Iracabal to Pinochet’s illegal weapons deals, attention then turned to other crimes he may have committed.

A possible link may connect Iracabal’s 1979 trip to Spain to set up an arms purchase center for Chile’s military regime to the mysterious death of a distant relative of his, Rodrigo Anfruns, a six-year-old boy at the time. Pinochet’s secret military intelligence service, DINA, has long been suspected of having a role in the murder, but until now no one could find a motive. Iracabal left for Spain immediately after the boy went missing.