French Court Sentences Noriega for Laundering

A French court Thursday sentenced former Panamanian dictator Manuel A. Noriega and his wife to 10 years in prison for laundering millions of dollars through accounts in several leading French banks.

The couple, who were also fined a total of $29.1 million, were tried and sentenced in absentia. Noriega is in prison near Miami, serving a 30-year term for money laundering and drug trafficking.

Felicidad Noriega’s whereabouts is unknown to authorities.

The trial focused on $2.7 million allegedly given by Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel to Noriega in 1988 and 1989 in exchange for permission to launder the proceeds of its drug sales in Panama.

France opened an investigation into the Noriegas’ financial activities in 1989 at the request of Panamanian authorities, shortly after a U.S. invasion brought an end to the general’s rule over Panama. Noriega went into hiding after the invasion but surrendered in January 1990.

Investigators believe Noriega laundered more than $25 million in French accounts, using the Bank of Credit and Commerce International--better known by its initials, BCCI--which closed its doors in 1991 due to international fraud.

The money, investigators suggest, arrived in France via Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The French charges dealt only with the 1988-89 period.

So far, investigators have frozen about $7 million they believe belonged to the Noriegas. They have also confiscated three apartments purchased by Felicidad Noriega with alleged drug money.

A federal court in Miami convicted Noriega in 1992 and sentenced him to 40 years in prison. A judge reduced the sentence in March, after the former general argued that he deserved credit for helping the United States pursue its interests in Latin America while he was in power. His case was buttressed by former U.S. officials testifying on his behalf.

The ruling means Noriega could be eligible for release by 2007.