Imelda Marcos, the glamorous, well-shod wife of the late deposed president of the Philippines, was acquitted of fraud and racketeering charges yesterday after a lengthy trial in New York.
The Saudi financier, Adnan Khashoggi, a co-defendant, was also acquitted.
The courtroom burst into cheers as the jury’s verdict was read out. Mrs Marcos, in tears, was hugged by her lawyer as relatives applauded. Yesterday was her 61st birthday.
“I thank the almighty God for the vindication, and I am in great awe and respect for the jury system that symbolises the soul of the American people,” she said.
The woman who once travelled with 800 pieces of luggage, reputedly owned more than 3,000 pairs of shoes, and became known as the ultimate global shopper, had faced charges carrying up to 50 years in jail.
She was accused of misappropriating, in conjunction with her husband, $222 million of Philippines’ taxpayers’ money and using it to buy properties in Manhattan, expensive jewellery and works of art.
Mr Khashoggi had been accused of acting as a “front man” in the purchases. “I am proud of the jury system. I am going to Mecca,” he said after the verdict.
Both defendants vehemently protested their innocence throughout the trial.
Garry Spence, Mrs Marcos’s chief defence counsel, who persisted in wearing his Wyoming cowboy hat throughout, deployed the stratagems of chivalry in his client’s cause. Mrs Marcos, a working-class girl made good, was a victim and her only crime, he said at one point, was “loving her husband for 35 years”. She was a “world-class shopper”, but also a “world-class human being”.
After 95 witnesses gave evidence for the prosecution, Mr Spence boldly declared that he would call no witnesses for the defence, since there was no case to answer. After five days of deliberations, the jury appeared to share his view.
The result of the trial represented an expensive blow to US federal prosecutors, who had been criticised for bringing the case against the wife of a former key ally.
It was widely suggested that the US government had been forced into action by the Manila authorities, who it was claimed, linked the case to talks over US bases in the Philippines.
