Chile may investigate possible secret bank accounts of former-dictator Augusto Pinochet, President Ricardo Lagos said on Thursday, reacting to a US Senate report that said a Washington-based bank helped Pinochet hide his assets.
A report prepared after a year-long investigation by the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said on Wednesday that Riggs Bank sought business from Pinochet and set up multiple accounts and two offshore shell companies to hide $4 million to $8 million, violating US anti-money-laundering safeguards.
Pinochet's family and advisors denied the report.
"If the result of that Senate investigation establishes ... the level (of money) in those accounts and there is certainty about the owner of the accounts, then there would probably be some sort of commission set up by different government bodies in Chile to investigate," Lagos said at a news conference.
"It would be unlikely that the issue would go unnoticed in Chile, whether it be a parliamentary commission or some other body," he added.