Talk of Hosni Mubarak having a multi-billion-dollar fortune is nothing but "a groundless rumour," a legal adviser to the former Egyptian president was quoted on Sunday as saying.
The official MENA news agency quoted the legal adviser, who it did not identify, as "categorically denying false and misleading information" about Mubarak's wealth in both foreign and domestic news media.
Such speculation is meant "to undermine his reputation, his honesty... and the honourable history of Mubarak in the service of the homeland for 62 years," he said.
Switzerland, which froze Mubarak's assets within hours of his resignation on 11 February in the face of an 18-day uprising, said Sunday that the former president had "tens of millions of francs" in Swiss financial institutions.
"We do not yet know if these funds are legitimate or not," said Swiss foreign ministry Stefan von Below, adding that if they had been illegally obtained, "competent judicial bodies will decide who are the entitled parties".
One Swiss franc is worth about one US dollar or 77 euro cents.
The fate of Mubarak's assets in the European Union is likely to come up on Tuesday when EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visits Cairo, after ambassadors from the 27 EU member states agreed in principle in Brussels on Friday to freeze the assets of members of his inner circle.
Mubarak, 82, withdrew to his heavily-guarded villa in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh on the day that he stepped down. He has not been publicly seen since, amid speculation about his health.
Twelve people have been hit by the Swiss asset freeze, including Mubarak's immediate family members as well as four ministers.
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