Guptas’ Saxonwold mansion raided
State moves to seize assets worth R250m, including houses, luxury vehicles and three aircraft
The Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) has moved to seize cars, aircraft and properties worth at least R250m belonging to the Guptas and their associates, allegedly bought with looted state funds.
Assets include the Guptas’ elusive Bombardier jet, which landed at Lanseria airport on Friday after Export Development Canada (EDC), the Canadian bank that financed it, went to court to have it grounded.
On Monday, the AFU began to implement a restraining order obtained from the High Court in Bloemfontein against assets deemed to have been bought with money stolen from the Estina dairy project in the Free State.
Also on the list are dozens of vehicles — including several Mercedes-Benzes and Land Rovers, a Porsche Cayenne and a Lamborghini Gallardo — the bank accounts of Gupta-linked companies and houses, businesses and farms across the country. These include the Gupta homes in Saxonwold, which were raided on Monday, as well as houses in Roggebaai and Constantia in Cape Town, and Umhlanga in Durban
Three aircraft to be seized are the Bombardier jet with the tail number ZS-OAK, a Bell helicopter and a Cessna Citation registered as ZS-AKG.
The Guptas returned the Bombardier to Lanseria pending an appeal against a grounding order obtained in March by EDC, which cancelled their loan agreement citing reputational damage and the risk that the jet could be used in illegal activities.
In his founding affidavit for the order, AFU head Knorx Molelle cited EDC’s case as a reason for going after the jet as it showed the Guptas had a “propensity to unlawfully alienate and dissipate property” when facing legal proceedings.
EDC said the authorities had not informed it that the jet would be seized.
“EDC had already included the South African authorities in
its March court application and will work with relevant authorities to resolve the issues surrounding these assets,” spokesman Phil Taylor said.
Eight people have already appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption‚ fraud, theft and money laundering for allegedly looting money meant for the dairy farm. They are Ronica Ragavan, CEO of Gupta holding company Oakbay Investments; former CEO Nazeem Howa; Ashu Chawla, CEO of the Guptas’ Sahara Computers; Varun Gupta, a nephew of the Gupta brothers; Kamal Vasram, an IT salesman at Sahara Computers, who was the sole director of Estina; and three former officials of the Free State agriculture department.
In his affidavit, Molelle said there was evidence that the Bank of Baroda had been used to launder the Estina money, but these funds could be lost because the bank was in the process of closing in SA.
He pointed out that several of the entities implicated in receiving funds allegedly looted, the dairy project, Gupta mining companies Shiva Uranium and Tegeta, had been placed in business rescue, increasing the risk that the money would be dissipated. A curator’s report cited in the AFU papers said R250m of Estina’s money had been diverted to a constellation of Gupta entities that had no business dealings or relationships with the dairy project. This included R169.5m to Gateway, an alleged Gupta front company in the United Arab Emirates.
The AFU papers singled out Ragavan, who was the sole or co-director of Gupta companies with vast assets but whose own net worth was just R200,000. These included Confident Concepts, which owns 73 properties and 31 vehicles worth R46m, whereas the only cars in her name are a Toyota Tazz and Ford Fiesta. Ragavan was also a codirector with Chawla of Islandsite and Westdawn, companies that own the three aircraft and properties worth R190m.
The Gupta brothers are not in SA and there is an outstanding arrest warrant for family patriarch Ajay Gupta in relation to another corruption case involving state capture.
The Guptas lawyer, Rudi Krause, on Monday criticised the AFU and the National Prosecuting Authority for the way the matter was handled.