Marcos kept gold in late Kim's name

Marcos kept gold in late Kim's name

SEOUL (AFP): The late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has deposited multi-billion-dollar-worth gold bars at a Swiss bank in the name of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, a report said Wednesday.

The secret bank account was opened at the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), Seoul's Munhwa Ilbo newspaper quoted a former Marcos aide as saying.

Munhwa, carrying a copy of the bank account certificate on the front page, said Marcos had borrowed Kim Il-sung's name to deposit 940 tons of pure gold bars worth US$8 billion at the UBS on Sept. 11 in 1970.

Marcos died in 1989 three years after he stepped down to seek asylum in Hawaii. North Korean founder Kim Il-sung died in 1994.

The Philippines have been seeking to retrieve Marcos' secret ill-gotten wealth which was amassed during his 20-year rule.

"Former President Marcos had borrowed the names of dictators from third countries to prevent others from withdrawing deposits from his secret bank accounts," the unnamed former aide to Marcos told Munhwa.