Coup de grace : After decades feeding off proceeds of corruption, Imelda Marcos finally goes to jail

Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines

Imelda Marcos : Remember her? She is now 89. 32 years ago, she and her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, were forced from power in a popular uprising. Imelda and her hated husband embezzled billions of dollars of public money while their reign lasted.

At long last, the Sandiganbayan, the Philippines’ specialist anti-corruption court has sentenced Imelda to at least 42 years in prison for hiding stolen public money in several Swiss foundations in the 1970s.



The former first lady is famous for her enormous collections of shoes, jewellery and art works, many of them bought with embezzled public money. The couple used false names to hide their loot in Swiss accounts. The president chose William Saunders and Imelda Marcos used Jane Ryan.



Although dozens of charges have been brought against Marcos over the years, but far from merely avoiding prison she has enjoyed a flourishing career as an elected politician.

Strangely, the charges on which she has now been convicted were first filed in 1991. However, justice was prolonged by, among other tactics, the failure of Marcos to obey summons to appear in court.