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FBI aided arrest of ex-Peruvian spy chief
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The arrest of a former Venezuelan intelligence officer in Miami late last week led to the capture of former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, the FBI said Tuesday. The bureau would not identify the former intelligence officer because, sources said, he is part of an ongoing investigation that began last year. Miami FBI spokesman Wayne Russell said the Venezuelan's arrest for alleged extortion, along with help from other cooperating witnesses, led to the crucial handover of Montesinos, who had been eluding Peruvian authorities for months. Montesinos was arrested in Caracas, Venezuela, over the weekend and deported Monday to Lima. He fled Peru in October after being accused of a number of crimes that included stealing state funds, taking kickbacks from illegal drugs and arms deals, directing death squads and ordering the torture of opponents. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Montesinos was head of Peru's intelligence agency for nearly a decade under Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who resigned after allegations against Montesinos began to surface; he is now in self-exile in Japan. Chief Prosecutor Jose Ugaz told CNN that Montesinos, who arrived in Lima under heavy military escort Monday, faces 140 charges and would be interrogated in the coming days. Peruvian authorities learned seven months ago that Montesinos was in Venezuela, Ugaz said, but they did not know where. "He was under the protection of some Venezuelan authorities," he said. He said the FBI helped pinpoint Montesinos, forcing Venezuela to acknowledge his presence. "It was impossible to deny that he was in this country." Bank records provide cluesRussell told CNN that FBI agents began monitoring bank accounts linked to Montesinos about two months ago after a request -- relayed via the U.S. Embassy in Lima -- from Peruvian magistrate Saul Pena Farfan.
Deposits totaling $38 million were confirmed at the Pacific Industrial Bank in downtown Miami, Russell said. One month ago a former Venezuelan intelligence officer, who said he represented Montesinos, contacted senior Pacific Industrial Bank officials and tried to extort release of the money, according to the FBI account. The FBI intercepted "numerous extortion communications between the individual representing Montesinos and the Pacific Industrial Bank," Russell said. He would not comment on reports the man threatened to expose the bank for allegedly laundering money if it did not release the funds. Once arrested, the Montesinos messenger and other contacts led authorities to Montesinos' hiding place and to the names of those protecting him in Venezuela. Russell said Montesinos "had been moving from safe house to safe house in the greater Caracas area." The FBI contacted Peruvian authorities, including Interior Minister Antonio Ketin Vidal, to coordinate the capture of Montesinos. But before that could take place, the FBI said, those who had been hiding Montesinos somehow were alerted to the arrest of the Venezuelan in Miami and "decided to turn him [Montesinos] over to their own Venezuelan intelligence service." Venezuela's assistance in questionVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the arrest of Montesinos Sunday, reportedly suggesting his government had been in on the operation for days. In a news release the FBI made no mention of cooperation from the Venezuelan government, instead crediting the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the South Florida money laundering strike force, the Miami U.S. attorney's office, and the Peruvian interior ministry, judicial branch and public ministry authorities. A U.S. law enforcement source declined to comment on whether Venezuelan authorities helped hide Montesinos and stonewalled attempts by U.S. and Peruvian authorities to find him. The source, who did not want to be identified, told CNN "you can draw your own inference from the FBI's press release." The Venezuelan government declined comment Tuesday. Russell said Montesinos' turnover to Peruvian authorities in Caracas was arranged "in exchange for future considerations." He would not elaborate. The FBI began helping Peru capture Montesinos late last year when Miami-based agents arrested Alberto Venero, identified as a Montesinos business associate, and Manuel Aivar Marca, a former Peruvian federal police official. They were reportedly accused of helping Montesinos escape from Peru. Mark Schnapp, a lawyer representing the Pacific Industrial Bank in Miami, said the $38 million in deposits were being held on behalf of other financial institutions and that the bank, by contacting the FBI, played a key role in the arrest of Montesinos. "The bank was holding the money to return it to Peru, " Schnapp told CNN. "This money was never going back to Montesinos." CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti, Justice Department Correspondent Kelli Arena and Mexico City Bureau Chief Harris Whitbeck contributed to this report. |
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