M A I N   N E W S

Special to the tribune
Once Zardari’s, Surrey mansion up for sale
Shyam Bhatia in London

Indian buyers have expressed interest in the opulent Surrey mansion complete with pub and golf course that once belonged to Asif Ali Zardari when his wife was the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Pakistanis were scandalised when details first started to emerge more than a decade ago that Zardari had bought Rockwood, a 365-acre estate in the heart of the English countryside, for upwards of Rs 30 crore ($7 million) of unaccounted money. It soon became synonymous with the corruption of the Bhutto years.

At the time, Zardari had set his heart on emulating the life of an English aristocrat. Hence the decision to purchase a string of horses, so that his children could go riding, the unsuccessful attempts to buy a local pub in the area — called the Dog and Pheasant — and relocate it in the grounds of the estate, while adding on a massive verandah to improve the view from the back.

Although the Dog and Pheasant was not up for sale, Zardari was so impressed by the pub that he had it copied in detail so that a replica could be installed in the basement of the newly purchased mansion.

As more information about the purchase began to leak, courtesy of a local builder who had not been paid, local families were bemused by stories of the stuffed tigers, antique rifles, carpets and furniture that had started to arrive from Pakistan.

Today Rockwood is once again up for sale, albeit without the Bhutto family’s soft furnishings, and the asking price has gone up to a hefty $11.5 million -- peanuts for wealthy international speculators who keep a close eye on the UK property market.

What is also not included in the sale price is a fabulous, 30 feet glass dining table -- that Zardari is supposed to have bought for $185,000 — glass chandeliers and exclusive bathroom fittings.

“Already we are seeing Russian interest spread to this area, and there are Indian buyers interested as well,” says a spokesman for property agent Knight Frank quoted by the British media. “It has huge potential for anyone who is prepared to spend some money on it. The planning consents exist and the house is not listed.” Among the built-in features that Zardari added and are still in place is a bombproof master bedroom shaped like a dome, with inset lights to mimic a starry sky. The helipad, nine hole golf course and indoor swimming pool are still in place.

To begin with, Zardari denied owning the property. He maintained the fiction despite the facts and figures provided by Pakistani investigators. When the then opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, gave Pakistan’s parliament a detailed description of Rockwood, calling it a palace 10 times bigger than the Lahore Fort, Zardaris declared assets were less than US$ 500,000.

During a visit to Dubai in 2003, I asked Benazir who were the real owners of Rockwood. Her reply was evasive. “I did not buy Rockwood, I have never visited Rockwood, and if I accept the accusation that he (Zardari) bought Rockwood, where is the illegality? He was a businessman, he had money, there were bearer certificates, he was permitted to remit his money overseas to international tax shelters.”

Finally, in 2004, when the house and estate were put up for sale under pressure from the Pakistani government headed by General Pervez Musharraf, Zardari’s lawyer admitted that his client was the “beneficial owner”. The property was purchased by a wealthy English couple, Giles and Vanessa Swarbreck.

Commenting on what he bought at the time, Swarbreck told the Mail on Sunday newspaper, “It was still full of the Bhuttos’ furniture and was like a Dubai version of the Arabian Nights. It is incredible what they spent their money on, with no coherent plan and having their whims interpreted by their builders. The result was a total eyesore.”

As President of Pakistan, Zardari is immune from prosecution from the many shady deals, including property transactions, which earned him the title of ‘Mr 10 per cent’.

But the imminent sale will revive unwanted attention on his personal fortune, said to be about US $ 2 billion, which according to some estimates makes him the eighth richest person in the world, even richer than Queen Elizabeth 2.

Pakistani sources say, Zardari’s current assets include nine properties in the US, one each in France and Belgium, eight in the UK and 34 back home in Pakistan. He is also alleged to have shares in seven Pakistani sugar mills and is reportedly the true owner of 28 international bank accounts and 24 front companies that are registered abroad.