THE property empire of President Mobutu spans continents and tastes from a prestigious Paris address to a gaudy palace in Goma with plastic chandeliers.
Mr Mobutu's sprawling villa near Lausanne, on which Switzerland ordered a freeze yesterday after a Zairean prosecutor demanded a block on his assets, is among a string of luxury houses he owns around the world.
Mr Mobutu (66) left Kinshasa amid intense speculation that he is heading for exile in Morocco or France. But wherever he goes, he will not live in poverty.
The man who diplomats allege could pay off Zaire's entire debt with a personal cheque has more than 20 luxury properties in the West and a Swiss fortune once worth $4 billion, according to Swiss media.
Opponents accuse him of plundering his vast wealth over three decades of rule in mineral-rich Zaire.
The Swiss villa in Savigny was bought by Mr Mobutu in 1968 for his first wife, Marie-Antoinette, who later died. The 30-room villa set in 15 acres has a market value of $5.5 million, according to Swiss federal police.
Aerial photographs show a huge house, swimming pool, garages, a pond surrounded by trees and a small chalet in the sprawling, well-kept garden.
The Zurich daily, Tages-Anzeiger, said the Savigny villa was still used by Mr Mobutu's entourage. "The 2,000 Zairean refugees in Switzerland live on much harder ground," it said.
In contrast, the riches inside a palace Mr Mobutu owned in the eastern Zairean border city of Goma, now in rebel hands, are all fake, reports say.
The Goma palace, on the picturesque shores of Lake Kivu and in the shadow of volcanoes, is complete with His and Hers bathrooms but the chandeliers are plastic and the marble fake.
Reports of Mr Mobutu's hunger for real estate continued to trickle in even as he left Kinshasa.
In Morocco, an estate agent said Mr Mobutu had a major construction project under way in Marrakesh.
"Mobutu owns, with a Swiss partner, a five-storey building and luxury restaurant under construction in Marrakesh worth $10 million," the agent said.
Mr Mobutu also has a lavish Paris apartment, property and flats in Brussels and a holiday home in the south of France.
"The Paris apartment is not bad at all - 800 square metres, just a few metres from the Arc de Triomphe," a Swiss newspaper reported. It said the apartment was located near the maker of Mr Mobutu's trademark leopard-skin hats.
He also owns an estate in the Portuguese Algarve with a wine cellar of 14,000 bottles, including port the same vintage as his rule.
His Spanish interests include a luxury villa and hotel in Marbella and a home in Madrid. In Lisbon, he has a Boeing 707 stuck at the airport because of unpaid airport fees.
His assets in Zaire include a jungle palace in his native village of Gbadolite in northern Zaire, with an airport.
Media reports say Mr Mobutu has also built a property empire elsewhere in Africa, where he reputedly owns hotels and houses in South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Morocco.
His bank accounts, however, are less visible. Swiss media reports say he once had $4 billion spread in secret numbered bank accounts in Switzerland. Swiss banking authorities say the banks are unlikely to hold much money from Mr Mobutu now.
. Swiss banks are under close watch as part of a formal search ordered by the banking watchdog for any accounts they may hold of Mr Mobutu, a Swiss official said yesterday.
A spokesman from the legal assistance department of the Federal Bureau of Police Affairs said "a withdrawal from accounts or the closing of accounts would probably not work any longer."