20110221
RFI

Egypt's prosecutor general requested a freeze on the foreign assets of recenty-resigned president Hosni Mubarak and his family on Monday.

A judicial source said there had been many complaints regarding the former president's wealth being outside the country, "which necessitates an investigation".

Mubarak is widely thought to have amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune over his three decades in power, although an unidentified legal advisor told the state-run Mena news agency on Sunday this was "a groundless rumour".

Prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud tasked Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit with contacting foreign countries to seek a freeze on assets held by Mubarak, his wife and sons, and the families of his sons' wives.

Switzerland said Sunday the former president had "tens of milions of francs" in Swiss financial institutions.

One Swiss franc is worth about 77 euro cents.

The Swiss authorities pre-emptively froze assets of twelve people, including Mubarak, after the former president's resignation ten days earlier.

Mubarak withdrew to his villa in the Red Sea resort town of Charm el-Cheikh when he stepped down, and has not been seen in public since.