Controversies

Money laundering
An associate of Bhutto said: "Mr Zardari has an image problem, because of a lingering reputation of corruption, despite not having been convicted of any wrongdoing. He will need to change this image.”

Zardari was accused of money-laundering activities in a US Senate report on private banking and money-laundering.

Zardari was under criminal investigation in Switzerland over receipts of kickbacks from two Swiss-based companies while his wife, the late Benazir Bhutto, served as the country's prime minister in the 1990s, a Swiss judge and two Swiss lawyers close to the case told NEWSWEEK. Judge Daniel Devaud continued investigations despite pressure from US officials.

In Britain, the decade-old civil proceedings focus on Zardari. Zardari is accused of using illicit funds to acquire the 365-acre Rockwood estate, a $6.5-million property featuring a Tudor-style mansion and two adjoining farms in the Surrey district. The estate was bought and refurbished in 1995 through trusts in the Isle of Man and Liechtenstein and the Caribbean firms linked to Bhutto, Zardari and the alleged kickbacks, according to the lawsuit. Zardari steadfastly denied ownership until January 2006, when he acknowledged he owned the property, according to British court records. The judge did rule that there is a “reasonable prospect” of proving that funds used to refurbish the estate were “the fruits of corruption,” according to the documents.


NRO beneficiary
Zardari is a beneficiary of the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) issued by the former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. Chief beneficiaries of this ordinance include Asif Ali Zardari, Rehman Malik and MQM workers and leaders.