US officials question Pinochet daughter

WASHINGTON - US officials questioned the eldest daughter of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet at a Washington area airport today after she fled tax charges in Chile, officials said.

Lucia Pinochet Hiriart, 60, has been charged with tax fraud related to some US$1 million ($1.46 million) in undeclared taxes and falsification of documents as part of a widening tax evasion and fraud investigation involving the Pinochet family.

She was served with a subpoena in Chile over the weekend to attend court on Tuesday, but never appeared.

Pinochet Hiriart was pulled over for special screening after arriving in Washington.

"She did arrive this morning at about 7am at Dulles on a flight from Argentina and she's currently being interviewed," US Customs and Border Protection agency spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said.

She was still being questioned at mid-afternoon, Trevino said.

Chilean officials said Pinochet Hiriart was considered a fugitive from justice and President Ricardo Lagos said she would be asked to return to her country voluntarily.

"As I understand it, contact has been made and we are trying to see if she could return voluntarily to the country," Lagos told reporters.

A US Justice Department official said the United States has a limited extradition treaty with Chile, but it did not cover all crimes and may not cover the criminal charges against Pinochet Hiriart.

Media reports in Chile said Pinochet Hiriart fled to neighbouring Argentina by car on Sunday, a day before her mother and four siblings were arrested on charges of tax evasion and fraud related to her father's multimillion-dollar bank accounts.

Pinochet Hiriart's son Rodrigo Garcia Pinochet told a radio in Santiago that his mother had decided to visit the United States and return in March to "clear up this situation."

"She never imagined being in this turmoil, in this situation," he said.

Augusto Pinochet, 90, ruled Chile for 17 years after he took power in a 1973 military coup that toppled Salvador Allende. He has been accused of responsibility in the deaths of as many as 3000 Chileans during his regime between 1973 and 1990, and in tens of thousands of torture cases.

He was charged last year with evading taxes on an estimated US$27 million hidden in foreign accounts. Prosecutors say Pinochet and his family stashed millions of dollars in more than 100 bank accounts outside of Chile.

Observers say he may end up facing prosecution for tax crimes before any of the human rights charges against him, which are stalled in the courts because of his health.

Yesterday, a Santiago court of appeals approved bail for wife Lucia Hiriart, his youngest son Marco Antonio, and his daughters Jacqueline and Veronica.

Pinochet's eldest son Augusto was released on Tuesday, hours after being arrested on charges of falsification of documents related to a fraud and tax evasion investigation involving more than 100 secret foreign bank accounts.

The bank accounts have damaged Pinochet's reputation domestically. The left has long accused him of being ultimately responsible for thousands of deaths and the torture of tens of thousands of leftists that occurred during his regime.

But many Chileans had supported him partly because he was seen as a clean leader in financial matters compared with many other Latin American presidents and dictators.

- REUTERS