Swiss shelve money laundering probe into Zardari

Swiss authorities on Monday shelved a long-running probe into alleged money laundering against martyred former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, Swiss news agency ATS reported.

Zardari is now the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate to replace Pervez Musharraf as president, and the shelving of the probe by Geneva’s prosecutor general means he will not face new charges.

Benazir Bhutto, who was martyred in December, and Zardari were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about 12 million dollars (8.4 million euros) in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistan in the 1990s.

The couple were formally sentenced by decree on the charges in Geneva in 2003 after a first investigation, but the ruling was overturned on appeal.

Geneva’s prosecutor general said he had taken into account an October 2007 amnesty issued by Musharraf to Bhutto and Zardari, and the failure to find evidence confirming Zardari had received bribes, ATS reported.