Benazir may get to reclaim her frozen millions

LONDON: Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who is scheduled to return to the country on Thursday after nine-year exile, and her husband may reclaim hundreds of millions of pounds frozen in Swiss bank accounts.

Ms Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari may reclaim the money frozen in Swiss bank accounts as they were alleged to have amassed a fortune from kickbacks on government contracts during her two terms as prime minister, The Sunday Times reported quoting senior anti-corruption officials in Lahore.

Their assets allegedly included a 10-bedroom, mock-Tudor Surrey mansion and £740 million in Swiss bank accounts, the report said. Hassan Waseem Afzal, a high-flying civil servant who led the investigation for 10 years, said last week that he believed the deal with president Pervez Musharraf to drop the corruption charges would unlock the frozen accounts.