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Spy chief paid US$15m to let go
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DISGRACED ex-President Alberto Fujimori gave spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos a US$15 million golden handshake to quit and leave the country after he plunged Peru into political crisis last year, the state attorney leading corruption investigations said on Wednesday.
"He demanded US$1.5 million for every year of service -- US$15 million in all,'' state attorney Jose Ugaz reported, quoting from testimony by former Defence Minister Carlos Bergamino who witnessed the events.
Ugaz has already filed charges with the attorney general's office against Fujimori for misuse of state funds and he said a decision on whether to prosecute was expected on Friday.
They would be the most serious charges against Fujimori to date and the first to implicate him directly in corruption.
Fujimori fled to Tokyo in November at the height of a corruption scandal triggered by a video of Montesinos apparently bribing a congressman.
Fujimori paid Montesinos, his top aide for a decade, after issuing a special emergency decree for funds supposedly earmarked for the defence ministry to reinforce Peru's northern border against incursions by Colombian rebels, Ugaz said.
La Republica said the cash was withdrawn from the state-run Banco de la Nacion in six sacks and paid to Montesinos on Sept 22, hours before he flew to Panama with blessing of the United States and regional powers who urged the Central American nation to grant him asylum fearing a military coup in Peru.
The behind-the-scenes empire run by Montesinos -- a spy master with a taste for diamond watches and escape hatches under his bathtub -- came crashing down after the video, which sparked instant turmoil in Peru.
As Fujimori's top aide for a decade, Montesinos manipulated Peru's courts, Congress, media and military, often with cash-for-favours deals. He is wanted on charges ranging from money laundering to ordering death squads. Peru is offering a US$5 million reward for Montesinos, who was last heard of in Venezuela. (SD-Agencies)
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