GENEVA, June 26: A Swiss investigating judge is expected to complete soon a long-running inquiry into alleged money laundering by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Geneva’s chief prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The latest chapter in the graft case comes at a time when the opposition leader has vowed to return from self-imposed exile to Pakistan ahead of elections. But moving the case one step toward possible prosecution does not mean it will come to trial.

Ms Bhutto, who denies the money laundering charges, testified nearly two years ago before Judge Vincent Fournier who is probing charges that she and her husband Asif Ali Zardari stashed millions of dollars in kickbacks in Switzerland.

The pair were convicted in Geneva in 2003 of having laundered funds worth some $13 million through offshore companies and ordered to return the frozen funds to the Pakistan government.

But the initial verdict was thrown out automatically upon appeal, sparking a new probe. Geneva chief prosecutor Daniel Zappelli said on Tuesday he expected Fournier to hand over the results of his inquiry soon.

“The file should be transmitted shortly,” he told Reuters.

Fournier, in a separate interview, said that he had heard some Pakistani witnesses called by Ms Bhutto since her appearance in September 2005. He declined to comment further on the case.Once he has the file, prosecutor Zappelli has three options -— to bring the case to trial, suspend it, or dismiss it.—Reuters