RAWALPINDI, 1 April 2006 — A court in Rawalpindi has ordered the confiscation of Asif Ali Zardari’s overseas property. The same court had declared Zardari absconder for his non-appearance before the court after he was granted bail in March 2005.
Earlier the court had ordered confiscation of Zardari’s property located in Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Sanghar.
Zardari and his wife former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto are facing a number of cases related to money laundering and misuse of power during Benazir’s tenure as the prime minister. Zardari remained in jail from 1996 to 2005 on different charges.
A spokesman for the National Accountability Bureau said here yesterday that the Swiss Court, that is trying Benazir Bhutto, has allowed NAB Deputy Chairman Wasim Afzal to attend the proceedings of the case. Earlier the Swiss court had refused Afzal permission to attend the proceedings. The next hearing of Benazir’s case will be taken up by the Swiss Court in the second week of April.
Zardari’s assets, bank accounts and properties, which have been ordered for confiscation include about 25 offshore companies. They include Bomer Finance, Mariston Securities and Nasam Alexander.
