Imelda Marcos welcomes U.S. court ruling over money

MANILA (Reuters) - The wife of late Philippine ruler Ferdinand Marcos has praised a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against victims of human rights abuses in the country who had sought $35 million held in an account by the dictator.

"Thank God that once more, truth and justice have prevailed," Imelda Marcos said in a statement. "The American justice system works. God bless America."

On Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned a ruling by a U.S. appeals court that would have allowed the money held in a U.S. account to be distributed among 10,000 victims of rights abuses during Marcos' 20-year rule.

The decision was a victory for the government in Manila, which had argued the dispute should be settled in a Philippine court.

The case involved a New York brokerage account at Merrill Lynch & Co that Marcos set up in 1972 in the name of a suspected dummy corporation with a $2 million deposit.

The amount in the account has since grown to over $35 million.

Lawyers for the victims had argued they should get the $35 million as part of a $2 billion judgment in U.S. courts against the Marcos estate over human rights abuses under his rule, which ended in a popular revolt in 1986.

The Marcos family and business cronies were accused of looting up to $10 billion from state coffers but Imelda, renowned for her extravagant shopping trips, has been cleared in most cases against her due to insufficient evidence.

Marcos, a key ally to the United States during the Cold War, died in Hawaii in 1989. His widow returned to the Philippines in 1991.

(Reporting by Manny Mogato; editing by Carmel Crimmins)