NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A former aide to one-time
Phillipine first lady Imelda Marcos is expected to be charged on
Tuesday in New York with crimes relating to paintings that
disappeared after the fall of the Marcos government, according
to a person familiar with the investigation.
Vilma Bautista, a New York resident and one-time secretary
to Imelda Marcos, will be charged by the Manhattan District
Attorney in connection with four paintings in her possession,
including some by Impressionist artists, said another source.
Some of the paintings hung in a Manhattan town house used by
Imelda Marcos when her husband, the late President Ferdinand
Marcos, was in power, one person said.
The probe comes a quarter century after the Philippine
dictator was forced out by an uprising and fled the country in
1986.
Bautista, who is in her 70s, could not immediately be
reached for comment. Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for Manhattan
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., declined comment.
Imelda Marcos, known for her extravagant lifestyle and
thousands of shoes, is not expected to face charges in the case.
Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989.
The Philippine government filed corruption charges against
the strongman and his wife in 1987, seeking tens of billions of
dollars in damages for plundering the nation's wealth, including
illegal expensive works of art, clothes and jewelry.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)