Trust fund accounts at Baroda frozen
THE PRETORIA High Court yesterday ruled against the Bank of Baroda, freezing R1.75 billion in the Guptaowned Optimum and Koornfontein coal mines’ rehabilitation trust fund accounts.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which filed an urgent interdict on Thursday last week against the Bank of Baroda aimed at freezing the mines’ rehabilitation trust fund accounts, said this “is another sweet victory for South Africa, with the prevention of Gupta mining trust accounts worth at least R1.75bn from leaving our shores or being plundered by the Guptas”.
Outa chief operating officer Ben Theron said: “The trustees of the Gupta-linked mining rehabilitation funds allegedly mismanaged the funds, allowing the controversial family to use the trusts to pay back loans. Pending the final outcome of the interdict, we will pursue these individuals and hold them accountable for their misconduct.”
Mining rehabilitation funds must be used to restore and rehabilitate the damaged area when a mine gets to the end of its life. The funds can only be released once a closure certificate has been issued by the Minister of Minerals and Energy.
According to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the National Environmental Management Act, mine rehabilitation funds cannot be used for purposes other than managing the environmental damage caused by mining activities.
“The fight is far from over as we want to ensure that the Gupta family and those responsible for state capture are held accountable,” said Theron.
Outa’s action was not opposed.
The interim order directs the Bank of Baroda to continue to hold the trust funds of the Optimum Mine Rehabilitation Trust and the Koornfontein Mine Rehabilitation Trust in interest-bearing accounts in the trusts’ names.
The trustees, or those with signing powers, are interdicted “from directly or indirectly dealing in any way with, disposing of or removing from… South Africa any of the funds or assets of the trust including, but not limited to, the trust’s funds held in any account of or at the Bank of Baroda”.
The matter was postponed to December 7.
Outa recently appealed to Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane and the SA Reserve Bank to secure these funds, with no response.
The application was brought to court just after the Guptas had lost an urgent application to interdict the Bank of Baroda from closing their bank accounts.
In July, Outa proved that businesses linked to the Guptas bought properties over more than a decade for a total of R245 million – more than R50m of which was paid in cash – but managed to get bonds on these properties totalling nearly R1bn, an amount that far exceeded their value.