Although the ability to recover national assets stashed away in foreign banks should come as good news to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the timing of a recent judgment in favour of the government of Pakistan may put Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a very awkward position.
A Swiss federal tribunal has ruled that a valuable jewellery set that was seized by authorities in connection with investigations into allegations of graft belonged to former president Asif Ali Zardari or the legal heirs of the late Benazir Bhutto. The set, which includes a necklace, a bracelet, a pair of earrings and a ring, is said to be valued at over $180,000.In the judgment issued on Oct 29, a copy of which is available, the tribunal rejected ownership claims filed by Bomer Finance for the jewellery.
The company was allegedly formed by Mr Jens Schlegelmilch and linked to Mr Zardari and was at the centre of the SGS-Cotecna investigation.According to Francois Roger Micheli, a counsel from the firm Python and Peter, which represented the government of Pakistan before the Swiss tribunal, the judgment handed down states that Mr Schlegelmilch “appeared to have acted as the attorney for the BB-AAZ (Benazir Bhutto-Asif Ali Zardari) couple”.
