Gupta e-mails attract the attention of US authorities
The “Gupta leaks” e-mails that blew the lid on the extent of the Gupta family’s influence over vital state institutions during the Zuma presidency have gone international.
As deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo considered whether the e-mails could be admitted into evidence at the inquiry into alleged state capture, the commission heard on Thursday that the e-mails were already under investigation by “American authorities”.
A ruling by Zondo that the e-mails can be submitted may pave the way for SA law enforcement agencies to access them to help in their own investigations.
It is understood that the Hawks have not yet been given access to hard drives containing about 200,000 e-mails, allegedly sent and received by multiple Gupta family members and their associates.
As far back as October 2017, it was revealed that the US and UK were investigating foreign properties and bank accounts of the Gupta family, while the FBI and the US justice department were investigating the Guptas and their relatives living in the US. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency and Serious Fraud Office are investigating allegations that the family used UK banks in Dubai and Hong Kong to launder money looted from SA taxpayers.
Revealed in June 2017, the e-mails detailed how the Gupta brothers won billions of rand of contracts from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and influenced government decisions, including the appointment of ministers and SOE boards, giving rise to the term “state capture”.
The commission’s legal team asked that the Gupta leaks be admitted into evidence. It now has the original hard drive, as well as an almost complete forensic picture of the recovered data from the damaged original, and two clones of it.
Zondo is yet to make a ruling but raised concern about admitting into evidence items that had not completely been analysed.
Atul Gupta, former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane and home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba have all reportedly questioned the validity of the e-mails implicating them in state capture corruption.
Inquiry legal team heavyweight Paul Pretorius said that not only did the commission investigators believe the e-mails to be genuine, but that their authenticity could be proved through proper forensic investigation.
Attorney Brian Currin, who has been central to how the information on the hard drives became public and who has worked closely with the two whistle-blowers known only as Stan and John, testified that unspecified “American authorities” sought access to and obtained a copy of a clone hard drive containing the e-mails. He told the commission that he had met the Americans at the end of January 2018.
“They knew about one of the whistle-blowers, Stan. They said they did not know his true identity.
“They advised me they were doing certain investigations of an international nature and that they would like to meet with Stan and also have access to the evidence,” Currin said.
At the time, the aliases of the whistle-blowers, as well as Currin’s involvement, were not public knowledge.