MEXICO CITY AP Several alleged associates of a Mexican banker accused of fraud have been detained for investigation of money laundering in the Dominican Republic prosecutors announced Monday. The weekend detentions which netted three Italians two Puerto Ricans and two Dominicans appear to strengthen conjecture that former banking magnate Carlos Cabal Peniche may have engaged in money laundering in addition to charges of bank fraud currently pending against him. The detentions were related to ``illegal acts committed by Carlos Cabal Peniche in the Dominican Republic'' where he fled after charges were lodged against him in 1994 in Mexico the Attorney General's Office said in a press statement. The alleged associates were detained by the Dominican National Office of Drug Control for questioning about their possible involvement in forgery and money laundering. Dominican authorities have also seized properties on the Caribbean island which allegedly belong to Cabal who spent nearly four years on the run before his capture in Australia on Nov. 10. Prosecutors charged Cabal with violating banking laws after he apparently misappropriated as much as dlrs 700 million from a bank he owned. But the Monday announcement also raises questions about how Cabal built a business and banking empire in a few years in the early 1990s. While prosecutors have not announced money laundering charges against him press reports have repeatedly questioned the origin of his fortune. Cabal rose from obscurity to the top levels of Mexico's business world mingling with political leaders in the early 1990s and winning control of two formerly state-owned banks Banco Union and Banca Cremi. Authorities say Cabal made loans to himself from his banks a practice that is subject to strict limits under Mexican law and never paid the money back. Mexico has said it will seek his extradition from Australia and announced Monday that Australian police have also detained Cabal's brother-in-law Marco Pasini for violating that country's immigration laws. Pasini faces charges in Mexico relating to Cabal's alleged bank frauds and also faces an extradition hearing. APW19981201.0699.txt.body.html APW19981201.1453.txt.body.html