Overview

• The Seventh Civil Court of Santiago ordered Pinochet’s heirs to reimburse US$16 million of public funds concealed in Riggs Bank offshore accounts
• The ruling rejected the family’s statute-of-limitations defense and requires repayment in Chilean pesos at the prevailing exchange rate
• The Council of State Defense filed its lawsuit in October 2018 after the Supreme Court confirmed the Riggs accounts derived from illicit reserved military and presidential funds
• Investigators found that Riggs Bank set up shell companies in the Bahamas to mask Pinochet’s identity before the hidden funds were passed to his wife, children and grandchildren following his 2006 death
• Heirs may appeal to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, and a final verdict could mark one of the biggest restitutions for dictatorship-era corruption