Pak SC orders probe into Zardari’s ‘Surrey Mahal’
December 18th, 2009 - 6:51 pm ICT by ANI
London, Dec. 18 (ANI): Troubles for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari are getting bigger by the day, as the Supreme Court has now asked the concerned authorities to investigate as to how he purchased the 365-acre home counties estate in the UK worth 4 million pounds.
It is worth mentioning here that Zardari had purchased the mock Tudor Rockwood Park in the 1990s , which was soon termed as “Surrey Mahal” by the then opposition leaders.
Zardari is alleged to have spent more than 300,000 pounds on renovations of the 20-room mansion, including building his own private polo field and an exact copy of the local village pub, The Telegraph reports.
The apex court has ordered officials to ask the Swiss government to reopen an investigation into whether the property was bought with laundered money.
Zardari, who was often referred as ‘Mr. Ten percent’ during his wife Benazir Bhutto’s regime, has also been accused of receiving 37 million pounds in kickbacks from government contracts.
Zardari, however, is unfazed by the court cases and has said that he is ready to face come what may.
The President, who has already spent 11 years in jail but was released as none of the charges were proved, has blasted the current crisis terming it as ‘politically motivated’. (ANI)
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Tags: 11 years, 1990s, apex, apex court, asif ali zardari, benazir bhutto, court cases, exact copy, government contracts, home counties, kickbacks, local village, opposition leaders, pak sc, polo field, renovations, rockwood park, room mansion, swiss government, village pub