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Former Philippines First Lady handed lengthy jail sentence

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Former Philippines First Lady handed lengthy jail sentence

Former Philippines First Lady, Imelda Marcos was Friday found guilty of corruption and was handed a lengthy prison term.

She was accused with her late dictator husband of embezzling billions of dollars from state coffers.

Marcos, 89, who was handed six years behind bars for each of the seven charges, is however unlikely to spend much time behind bars as she is allowed to appeal the ruling and can remain free on bail as long as the conviction is not final.

The verdict, handed down by the anti-graft Sandiganbayan court over allegations that the Marcoses funnelled roughly $200 million through Swiss foundations decades ago, may however leave her potentially facing decades in prison if her appeal fails.

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The exact length of the term was not immediately clear.

Imelda’s late husband and dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, who along with his cronies was accused of pilfering $10 billion from the Philippines, fled with his family to the US after a people’s uprising ended his 20-year rule in 1986.

Marcos died in 1989 while still in exile. But his heirs later returned to Manila and have since staged a political comeback. Imelda Marcos is currently a congresswoman.

As a government official in the Marcos administration, Imelda was barred by law from having any financial interest from the Swiss foundations, said the ruling.

“The couple opened all those accounts in Switzerland, and they used pseudonyms to hide their ownership. The president chose William Saunders and Imelda Marcos used Jane Ryan,” special prosecutor Ryan Quilala told reporters.

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