NATION IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Marcos Loses Bid to Bar Bank Records

The judge in the racketeering and fraud trial of Imelda Marcos and Saudi financier Adnan Khashoggi ruled that records of bank accounts in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore may be used as evidence. Lawyers for the widow of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the deposed president of the Philippines, had sought to block the documents, but U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan said prosecutors had filed the proper certification. Keenan said the government will use the records to try to establish that the Marcoses owned three Panamanian companies that, in turn, owned real estate in New York. Prosecutors say the couple, with Khashoggi’s help, bought several properties with more than $160 million they stole from the Philippines’ treasury. Meanwhile, jury selection was completed.