Swiss government freezes Mubarak’s assets

BERN - The Swiss government has decided to block any assets that may be held in Switzerland by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said Friday.

The minister said that a decree was issued shortly after Mubarak stepped down Friday to identify and block any assets belonging to the Egyptian president and his family.

It’s the same law that was applied in January to ousted Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine ben Ali and incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, whose Swiss assets were frozen.

Bern has in recent years enacted legislation making it easier to return illegally obtained assets of corrupt leaders to their countries’ coffers, on condition the funds are used for the wellbeing of the citizens.

Mubarak’s wealth has long been a subject of speculation. According to media reports, he and his family own assets worth more than $40 billion.

According to the Swiss National Bank, Egyptian deposits in Swiss bank accounts totalled 3.6 billion Swiss francs ($3.7 billion).