Atul Gupta is a wanted man and for the first time has been indicted in an SA court as the National Prosecuting Authority also asked Interpol to help with his arrest and that of his brother Rajesh.
The two Gupta brothers and their wives are among 17 accused in a R24.9m procurement fraud case that was before the Bloemfontein magistrate's court yesterday.
The NPA's Investigating Directorate, which is investigating the matter, is pinning its hopes on the prospect that the Gupta brothers, who have been in the United Arab Emirates, could be nabbed when they travel to another country in which Interpol operates.
In April, the UK imposed sanctions against the Gupta brothers, who are accused of being at the centre of state capture.
Their other brother, Ajay, had a warrant for his arrest issued under his name in SA for a corruption case involving allegations of offering former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas a R600m bribe and the post of finance minister. The warrant of arrest was later cancelled in 2019.
Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, who enjoyed a close friendship with former president Jacob Zuma, relocated from SA to the UAE city of Dubai earlier in 2018 as investigations into their alleged corrupt activities intensified following raids at their premises, including their Saxonwold homestead, by the Hawks.
Investigating Directorate head Adv Hermione Cronje announced yesterday that they were applying to Interpol to assist with the execution of arrest warrants in respect of Atul and his wife Chetali, Rajesh and his wife Arti.
Cronje said they also wanted the international criminal police organisation to assist in arresting four other Indian nationals, namely Ankit Jain, former Nulane Investment Bank of Baroda account signatory; Ravindra Nath, director of Wone Management, Ramesh Bhat and Jagdish Parekh, the directors of Pragat Investments who are all implicated in the latest matter.
She said the modus operandi used in the case "appears to have been replicated in other government departments and projects".
"It is therefore critical that the evidence gathered in this matter is presented to court and a verdict obtained expeditiously," Cronje said.
"It is for this reason that prosecutors have decided to proceed separately against the accused currently in the country and those abroad, as the process of arrest and extradition may unduly delay the trial.”
Three former heads of the Free State agriculture and rural development departments who are indicted alongside the Gupta brothers and their associates appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court yesterday on fraud and money laundering charges for their roles in the awarding of the controversial feasibility study contract to Iqbal Sharma’s company, Nulane Investments, in 2011.
The charge sheet submitted in court yesterday alleges that Sharma and former Free State head of department for rural development Peter Thabethe, another former head of the department of agriculture in the province Limakatso Moorosi, and former agriculture department chief financial officer Seipati Dhlamini colluded to divert funds earmarked for rural development.
Sharma, a former chairperson of the Transnet board's acquisitions and disposals committee and business partner to Gupta associate Salim Essa, is among those who appeared in court yesterday.
The funds were diverted from Nulane Investments bank account after it was paid R24.9m to conduct a feasibility study for the Free State’s flagship Mohoma Mobung project, on the basis that it had skills to perform the work, according to the charge sheet.
Nulane Investments, however, did not even have employees on its books and in turn further subcontracted Deloitte Ltd to produce the report and paid it R1.5m.
The R24.9m was then distributed into different bank accounts and an off-shore account. The charge sheet noted that the funds “moved in an unusual and convoluted manner and without a legitimate business purpose.”
The Investigating Directorate’s asset forfeiture unit has now set its sights on several homes and cars to be seized.
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