Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: We have seen so many Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) becoming high-achievers in the countries they migrated to. This year, Kamala Harris, of Indian origin, became the first-ever woman, and colored, Vice-President of the United States.
But this story about an NRI family is different. Sadly it comes from South Africa which had become a training ground for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi before he became returned to revolutionize India in 1915 and became the Mahatma.
This is about the Gupta Brothers of South Africa. Once seen as among the most powerful NRIs in the world, even viewed as back-seat drivers of South Africa’s politics, their wings have finally been clipped.
A South African court on Friday froze the assets of the controversial Gupta family and their associate, Iqbal Meer Sharma, which included palatial homes in upmarket areas, according to media reports.
The Guptas, accused of siphoning billions of rand from state and parastatal institutions, are believed to be in self-exile in Dubai, with reports that some family members are in India.
In April 2021, South Africa’s central bank had seized over $1.3 million from a bank account of the now-abandoned Gupta-owned Sahara Computers, which was one of the country’s leading IT suppliers.
Hailing from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, the Gupta brothers—Ajay, Atul, Rajesh (Tony), and their cousin Varun—had a humble beginning. Their father Shivkumar Gupta was a soapstone powder distributor.
The enterprising brothers reached South Africa in the early 1990s as democracy dawned with the release of anti-apartheid revolutionary leader and Africa’s Gandhi, Nelson Mandela. They expanded their chain of businesses there from a retail shoe store into a vast empire spanning information technology, mining, and media.
In 2016, Atul Gupta became the seventh-wealthiest person in South Africa, with an estimated net worth of R10.7 billion (US$773.47 million). Other brothers’ families also flourished. They had a finger in every pie in the country.
Then the wheel turned full circle. They were accused of promoting their business illegally with ‘support’ from the then South African President Jacob Zuma. Charged with corruption, banks refused loans or any other support, they had to sell their businesses and allegedly flee to Dubai.
The determined government of South Africa is now trying to unearth the unaccounted wealth they allegedly stole to the USA, UAE and the UK, media reported.
On Thursday, the Investigating Directorate (ID) of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa urged Interpol to issue Red Notice (international arrest warrants) for Atul Gupta and Rajesh Gupta, and their wives Chetali and Arti.
Sharma, one of their close associates, was jailed over the weekend along with a senior official of the Provincial Free State Government, pending a bail application on Monday.
Earlier, an ID spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, said they have a strong case against the Guptas and Sharma involving fraud and corruption to the tune of more than 12 million South African rands.
South Africa has sent extradition papers to both India and the UAE, although it has no extradition treaty with the UAE.
The wanted four members of the Guptas are the owners of the company, Islandsite, against which the High Court order was granted on Friday.
“Leave is granted to institute asset forfeiture proceedings against Islandsite and the property of Islandsite,” read the court order, which Seboka confirmed applied to assets, including all properties in South Africa belonging to Islandsite.
The court has appointed a curator to take charge of the assets pending the outcome of criminal charges for fraud and money laundering offenses instituted against the Guptas, their company Islandsite, Sharma, and his company Nulane.
“The freezing order, granted in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act, will be served on Iqbal Sharma at the Bloemfontein Bainsvlei (police) holding cells, while Islandsite will be served at its local business address,” Seboka said.
Should they be found guilty, the assets concerned will be forfeited to the state.
The properties of the Guptas that are part of the order include a 21 million rand mansion in the elite suburb of Constantia in Cape Town and a 12 million rand estate in Johannesburg.
Sharma’s assets include his residence in the upmarket suburb of Sandton in Johannesburg valued at more than 12 million rands that the ID said is owned through a UAE-registered company, Issar Global, as well as other assets worth around 1.8 million rand.
There have been widespread allegations, including by witnesses at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, that the Gupta brothers used their proximity to former president Jacob Zuma to carry out a wide range of irregular deals totaling billions of rand.
