Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested in Dubai, taking SA a step closer to prosecuting the masterminds behind state capture under former president Jacob Zuma.
The detention of the brothers, confirmed by the department of justice, triggered the start of high-level discussions to bring them back to SA to face up to charges of corruption.
“Discussions between various law enforcement agencies in the UAE and SA on the way forward are ongoing. The SA government will continue to co-operate with the UAE,” Chrispin Phiri, department of justice spokesperson said.
The Gupta brothers, who fled SA shortly after Zuma was ousted as president in 2018 and refused to testify at the state capture commission of inquiry, remained behind bars in Dubai, and Business Day understands they are expected to apply for bail this week.
The arrests come four months after Interpol, an intergovernmental organisation that connects police agencies across the globe, issued a red notice for two members of the family, Atul and Rajesh. That followed a request from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which is litigating a low-profile money-laundering and fraud case against the duo in Bloemfontein.
The brothers face charges related to a R24.9m Nulane Investment fraud and money-laundering case. It deals with payments between November 2011 and April 2012 by the Free State department of agriculture to Nulane Investment, a company owned and controlled by former Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma. The money was supposed to go towards a feasibility study for the Free State’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project but it allegedly flowed between several Gupta-linked companies before making its way to the pockets of the Atul and Rajesh Gupta via their company Islandsite.
Prosecuting
The arrests can be seen as bringing to fruition promises by the government through the NPA and the Independent Directorate to start prosecuting perpetrators of state capture and the kingpins behind it.
In May, Siyabonga Gama, the former CEO of Transnet, one of the state-owned companies crippled by looting frenzy, and Eric Wood from the Gupta-linked companies Regiments Capital and Trillian Capital Partners were arrested.
Zuma, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, has conceded the Gupta brothers are close friends of his and business partners of his son Duduzane.
At the height of their business dealings in SA, the Gupta-owned companies spanning computer equipment, media, and mining, which used the political connections of their owners to win lucrative contracts in government departments and state-owned enterprises such as Eskom and SAA.
The judicial commission of inquiry into state capture recently found that, with Zuma’s help, they ended up so powerful in SA that they meddled with the appointments and dismissals of ministers, directors-general and heads of parastatals.
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