Chile's Supreme Court has stripped former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet of his immunity from prosecution so he can face charges of tax fraud involving an estimated $27 million in offshore accounts.
The decision upholds a lower court ruling, opening the way for the retired general to be indicted for tax evasion.
Pinochet, who is 89 and ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 after a military coup, has been stripped of his presidential immunity from prosecution in a handful of human rights cases but has not had to face the charges because his lawyers have successfully argued he was too ill for a criminal trial.
The defense team is expected to use the same tactic after today's ruling. Pinochet has heart problems and mild dementia caused by frequent mini strokes related to diabetes.
The bank accounts have damaged Pinochet's reputation domestically. The left has long accused him of being ultimately responsible for thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of tortures of leftists that occurred during his regime.
But many Chileans had supported him, partially because he was seen as a clean leader in financial matters while so many other Latin American presidents and dictators have been corrupt.
Chilean courts have been trying for five years to bring Pinochet to trial in several human rights cases, but the focus of investigations shifted last year when it emerged that he hid millions of dollars under false names.