Ex-Argentine president charged with tax fraud

Former Argentinian president Carlos Menem has been charged with tax fraud, accused of failing to declare a Swiss bank account containing £400,000 in US dollars.

Menem, whose 1989-99 presidency was marred by allegations of corruption, does not face jail if convicted, but could be barred from holding public office again.

The 74-year-old former leader admitted to having the account last year only after repeatedly denying its existence.

Menem has said the account was opened in 1986 with 200,000 from a legal settlement he won after being jailed as a political prisoner of the past military dictatorship. He said the account was legal and that the money, with interest, had grown to about 600,000.

Menem did not comment publicly about the charges today.

The Swiss bank account has prompted a number of investigations by Argentine prosecutors into the origins of the money.