-Caveat Lector- Videotape implicating Peru's ex-spy chief disappears By CRAIG MAURO, Associated Press LIMA, Peru (January 27, 2001 12:06 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A compromising videotape secretly made by Peru's fugitive ex-spy chief has disappeared from the offices of prosecutors probing alleged wrongdoing linked to Vladimiro Montesinos, the state attorney said Friday. Jose Ugaz said the video showed judges in secretly recorded meetings with the former spymaster -- possibly implicating them in illicit acts. "This is a very grave act and it warrants a severe investigation," Ugaz told reporters. The news capped a week in which videos secretly filmed by Montesinos have led to criminal probes against the former head of Peru's election board, three Supreme Court judges, a mayor, a former minister and a lawmaker who helped lead a congressional investigation of the former intelligence chief and his alleged accomplices. Authorities are combing through some 700 tapes confiscated from the apartment of Montesinos, who for a decade was former President Alberto Fujimori's top adviser. Peruvians weary of scandal have dubbed them "Vladi-videos." Judge Saul Pena, who is overseeing the Montesinos case in the judiciary, said 70 of the 700 tapes have been reviewed, and that at least 20 contain incriminating evidence against politicians, judges, businessmen, bankers, police and military officers. Montesinos, a once-powerful figure, fled the country last fall after a video showed him apparently bribing a congressman. Ensuing scandals surrounding Montesinos led Fujimori to flee in November. The tapes were presumably recorded to hold over the heads of Montesinos' rivals and accomplices. Montesinos is believed to have operated a criminal empire involving arms deals, drug trafficking and graft that permeated the Congress, judiciary, the media and the armed forces. Earlier Friday, the videos led to the arrest of Tomas Gonzales, a former minister in Fujimori's cabinet, and Luis Bedoya, the current mayor of Miraflores, an upscale Lima district. Bedoya admitted Friday to accepting a "donation" from Montesinos for his 1999 mayoral campaign but said it was an "insignificant" amount. Bedoya beat a politician considered hostile to Fujimori in the election. Perhaps the most numbing blow for Peruvians came Tuesday when Congressman Ernesto Gamarra was shown in a video apparently taking a bribe from a Montesinos front man. Gamarra was vice president of a congressional commission investigating the origins of $70 million in frozen bank accounts linked to Montesinos. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media Do you have some feedback for the Nando Times staff? <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
