Update at 7:33 p.m. ET: Duvalier's lawyer said the former leader was not formally charged today, just questioned by by a judge during a closed court session, The Associated Press report. The judge will decide whether there's enough evidence to try Duvalier in a 2008 case stemming from his autocratic rule from 1971 to 1986, when he was deposed. That process could take up to three months.

Update at 6:20 p.m. ET: The Wall Street Journal, quoting the chief magistrate, reports that Duvalier was also charged with murder in a case that dates to 2008.

Documents had been lost and buried under the ruins of the courthouse after the earthquake a year ago, but government officials reconstructed the case.

"The charges are government corruption, embezzlement of funds, money laundering and assassination," said Chief Magistrate Harycidas Auguste. "It took months to reconstruct it, but we did."

Update at 5:27 p.m. ET: Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is leaving court in Port-au-Prince after a day of questioning before a judge, The Associated Press is reporting. The former Haitian dictator, who was deposed in 1986, returned Monday after 24 years in exile.

Update at 4:04 p.m. ET: "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been charged with corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds, a Haitian prosecutor tells Reuters.

Earlier postings by Doug Stanglin: Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been taken into custody after his surprise return from exile after 24 years.

CNN reports that he has been arrested, but the Associated Press is more cautious, saying police have taken Duvalier from the hotel, but says it is unclear whether he was formally arrested.

Henry Robert Sterlin, a former ambassador under Duvalier who has said in recent days that he was speaking as a spokesman for the former dictator, told reporters at the scene he was shocked by the developments, the AP reports. "Let's see if they put him in prison," he said.

Earlier posting: Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who made a surprise return to Haiti after 24 years in exile, will be questioned by authorities to determine whether he should be prosecuted for past crimes, Reuters reports, quoting a senior government official.

The 59-year-old Duvalier showed up unannounced in Haiti on Monday and has been holed up in a hotel in the capital. Today, he was visited by Haiti's chief prosecutor as SWAT teams secured the hotel.

Duvalier inherited control of the impoverished country in 1971 at the age of 19 following the death of his notorious father Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who had ruled the country from 1957.

Human Rights Watch, which has called for Duvalier's arrest, says the Duvaliers ordered the deaths of some 20,000 to 30,000 civilians during their bloody reign.

"Official torture and murder were commonplace under both father and son," the human rights organization says. "The Duvaliers stunted civil society with harsh repression of any signs of independence among political parties, trade unions, and the press."