Benazir And Asif Zardari's Assets

• Around $13 million has been frozen in bank accounts in Geneva. Allegedly kickbacks from Swiss cargo inspection companies. A Swiss court found Benazir and her husband Asif guilty of laundering money. A higher court set aside the verdict.
• Twenty-five bank accounts of Zardari were frozen—and now defrozen. These include accounts in the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), Citibank Private Limited and Citibank, Dubai.
• Among the confiscated properties belonging to the couple, or held in benami, are 150 acres of land in Sanghar, Nawabshah and Hyderabad; eight acres of land at Hawksbay and one-acre plots each in Clifton and Saddar, Karachi; six sugar mills, two textile units, one cement, two chemical and one ice factories.

• 355 acres of Rockwood Estate (Surrey Palace), apartments in the posh Queens Gate Terrace and Hammersmith of London, four shops in Brussels and two apartments in Brussels. The Surrey Palace has been sold to a Qatar-based billionaire.

• The Texas Stud Farm, properties in Wellington Club East and West Palm Beach.

The Nawaz Sharif government referred six cases of corruption to the National Accountability Bureau. The Musharraf regime too pursued these.

What’s the status now?

The National Reconciliation Ordinance issued by Musharraf grants amnesty to those involved in corruption cases between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999. Accordingly, Benazir and Asif moved the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court for withdrawal of these references. Stayed by the Supreme Court.

What does the PPP say?

The cases at home and abroad were filed to torment the Bhuttos, and were nothing but a vicious smear campaign against them.