A judge in Chile has ordered that the former dictator Augusto Pinochet be placed under house arrest.
Pinochet is accused of tax fraud, passport forgery and other alleged crimes related to an estimated $27 million held in secret overseas bank accounts.
Pinochet, who turns 90 tomorrow, has been indicted in two human rights cases in the last five years, but the cases were thrown out by courts which ruled that his mild dementia, caused by frequent mini-strokes, made him unfit to face trial.
The former dictator's off-shore bank accounts came to light last year in a US Senate investigation of possible money laundering at US banks.
Chile's courts then investigated Pinochet's finances and found more than 100 bank accounts in several countries under different names.
More than 3,000 people died in political violence and tens of thousands more were tortured or exiled during Pinochet's rule, which began with a military coup in 1973.
A centre-left coalition led by former exiles and Pinochet opponents has ruled Chile democratically since 1990.
