Marcos Money Ordered Returned To Philippines
Switzerland has ordered its banks to return nearly a half-billion dollars in accounts of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos to the Philippines, which says the money was plundered from the national treasury.
But the money is to be held in an escrow account until Philippine courts determine who should get it - the government, the Marcos family or the 10,000 victims of Marcos’ regime who were awarded $2 billion in a federal class-action lawsuit in Hawaii.
Zurich District Attorney Peter Cosandey said Monday that he had approved the transfer of money, deeming that the conditions in a 1990 ruling by the Swiss supreme court had been met.
But the two main banks holding the money - Swiss Bank Corp. and Credit Suisse - said they would appeal the decision, asking that a transfer be delayed until the courts decide who should get the money.
They fear that even if they turn money over to the Philippines, they could later be ordered to pay the plaintiffs in the U.S. lawsuit as well.
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.