As yet the Swiss authorities, which froze the accounts last summer, have given no indication of why they suspect a link to the former Russian President, although it is believed that possible links between accounts in a Bank of New York money laundering case and the frozen accounts prompted the latest action by Swiss authorities.

While Yeltsin's aides have consistently denied that he has any foreign bank accounts, unnamed sources say the accounts in question are not in Yeltsin's name, but rather are held by offshore companies or in the names of individual businessmen, both Russian and foreign, Newsweek reports in its January 10 issue.

The freezing of the accounts does not necessarily imply any wrongdoing, but Yeltsin has been dogged by corruption charges since last summer, when political foes raised the issue and forced an impeachment vote. Yeltsin and his family, including 39-year-old daughter Tatyana, have been given guarantees of immunity by acting President Vladimir Putin following Yeltsin's sudden resignation on 31 December 1999.