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MANILA, PHILIPPINES - A Swiss court has ordered a bank to turn over to the Philippine government 8.64 million dollars deposited by a former associate of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, a commission said Thursday.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said the Swiss Federal Court had struck down an appeal by Marcos associate Ignacio B. Giminez to block the release of the money to the PCGG from a Swiss bank account in his name.
Gimenez had filed an appeal against an earlier decision ordering the money to be transferred to the Philippines, the PCGG said.
However, the Swiss federal court's decision was "final and executory" and the money would be transferred soon, said the PCGG, set up two decades ago to recover billions of dollars stolen during Marcos's rule.
Marcos ruled the Philippines, mostly under martial law, from 1965 until he was toppled by a popular revolt in 1986.
No one knows just how much Marcos and his associates stole and estimates vary from five to 10 billion dollars, much of it hidden in overseas bank accounts, including some in Switzerland.
After Marcos was overthrown, the Swiss government froze assets and 683 million dollars in his accounts.
Most of these assets were eventually transferred to the Philippine government but a full recovery has been complicated by the fact that much of it has been deposited in accounts held by former Marcos associates.
The Marcos family also held many accounts through various dummy and front foundations.
Although hundreds of criminal cases, ranging from corruption to human rights abuse, have been filed against the Marcos family and their allies no one has been convicted of any wrongdoing.
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