Imelda lays claim to Swiss deposits

Imelda lays claim to Swiss deposits

MANILA (AP): Imelda Marcos owns nearly all of the more than US$500 million in Swiss bank deposits said to belong to her late husband, and no one can claim her money, a Marcos family lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Rey Dario issued the statement a day after Switzerland's highest court decided that all of the Swiss accounts of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos could be returned to the Philippines.

The Federal Tribunal, which made a landmark decision in December to order the return of about a fifth of the assets, has now given permission for the return of the rest of the frozen funds.

"Imelda Marcos is the sole owner and beneficiary of about 90 percent of the money," Dario said in a statement. "There is no money judgment any place in the world against Imelda Marcos individually. No claimant has any right or basis to claim her assets in Switzerland."