The former director of Chile’s Army Weapons Factory (FAMAE), Gen. Luis Iracabal, may soon face prosecution for helping former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s launder millions of dollars during the 1990s. Government investigators linked the man to two offshore bank accounts used to hide illegal kickbacks from weapons sales, as well as the 1979 murder of a six-year-old boy.
Investigative Judge Hernan Cerda, has ordered an investigation into Gen. Iracabal’s personal finances from 1973 to 1995 as well as all financial transactions of spin-off corporations created by FAMAE.
Gen. Iracabal allegedly received US$372,000 in illegal kickbacks from two of Gen. Pinochet’s offshore holding companies, Tasker Investment Ltd and Eastview Finance between 1998 and 2001. Investigators also believe that the 1979 murder of Gen. Iracabal’s nephew, Rodrigo Anfruns, is related to the weapons trafficking scheme.
Iracabal flew to Spain to set up an arms purchase center for Chile’s military regime just days after the boy disappeared. Investigators believe that the child was murdered to force Iracabal into cooperating with military officials but are still unclear about several details, such as why the boy was tortured before his body was dumped a short distance from his home.
Gen. Iracabal was also a member of Chile’s two most notorious secret police forces, the Directorate of National Intelligence (DINA) and Center of National Intelligence (CNI), both linked to thousands of human rights abuses under Gen. Pinochet.
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