Thu Jul 15, 5:56 PM ET
By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON - Senators investigating Riggs Bank's operations said Thursday they were outraged by senior bank officials' failure to act while managers helped former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (news - web sites) conceal millions in assets and turned a blind eye to improper payments to officials of Equatorial Guinea.
Lurid details — such as a suitcase stuffed with cash — emerged at a Senate hearing into Riggs' handling of the accounts. Lawmakers insisted it was impossible for high-level bank executives to be unaware of the actions.
Indeed, former Riggs chairman and chief executive Joseph Allbritton went to Chile to solicit Pinochet's business a decade ago, and he and other senior bank officials were familiar with the transactions in the Pinochet accounts, senators said.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&e=9&u=/ap/riggs_bank