French Seize Noriega’s Millions : Authorities Act on Tips From U.S.

Police have frozen between $3.4 million and $4.3 million held in French bank accounts by ousted Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega, judicial sources said in Paris today.

The order came from a French magistrate investigating allegations that the accounts may have been used to launder profits from illegal drug trafficking, the sources said.

They said at least five accounts in the names of Noriega and members of his family have been frozen since Friday. The money was deposited with at least two French banks, the Credit Industriel et Commercial and the Banque Nationale de Paris.

The magistrate acted after French authorities were tipped off by U.S. investigators.

The French sources said part or all of the cash held in France was about to be moved to Luxembourg when police moved in.

In Washington, the Justice Department said today it asked authorities in France and three other European countries to freeze bank accounts where it believes Noriega stashed millions of dollars in illegal drug profits.

“We have taken steps today in four European countries to freeze assets in numerous” accounts, said David Runkel, the department’s chief spokesman. Officials said Noriega hid at least $10 million in the accounts.

As the department sought to gain control of Noriega’s money, U.S. officials in Panama and Washington negotiated with the Vatican, whose embassy in Panama City took in an exhausted Noriega and 10 associates who sought asylum Sunday. Noriega’s regime was toppled Dec. 20 by U.S. troops.

U.S. officials sent letters to authorities in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Britain asking them to halt transactions in the bank accounts belonging to the deposed Panamanian dictator, Runkel said.

Based on records seized in Panama, U.S. officials believe they can document that the money in the overseas accounts stemmed from Noriega’s alleged drug dealing, Runkel said.

“We will have to demonstrate to the banking officials” that the money was earned illegally, he added. He said “preliminary discussions” were under way with other countries where Noriega has money.

While the Justice Department is trying to freeze $10 million, the State Department estimates Noriega’s worth at about $200 million to $300 million.

In a speech last August, Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger alluded to multimillion-dollar transactions Noriega has made over the last two years involving accounts in West Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Justice Department attorneys are confident that banking officials in the four European countries will cooperate with their request. “We’ve had a remarkable display of international cooperation,” Runkel said.

But he said there is a possibility that Noriega, his family or his bankers have already transferred the money out of some of the accounts since the U.S. invasion.

Freezing the accounts is the first step in a process to seize the assets, Runkel said. Distribution of the money, however, would be governed by the laws of the countries where the cash is hidden.