Manyi remains unfazed by Financial Intelligence Centre report highlighting Gupta-linked suspicious transactions
THE new owner of the Gupta’s Infinity Media‚ Mzwanele Manyi‚ says the Financial Intelligence Centre report showing suspicious money transactions involving the business he has bought is of no concern to him.
“I am comfortable with a recent court ruling [Gordhan vs Oakbay], which threw that report out [and] that everything is aboveboard with the company I have bought‚” said Manyi.
Last week, Oakbay Investments announced its withdrawal from its media interests‚ selling its shareholding in Infinity Media and TNA to Lodidox‚ owned by Manyi and management‚ for a combined R450million.
In August 2016‚ the FIC listed 72 suspicious transactions from Gupta-linked bank accounts.
Manyi said once the FIC report was struck out by the High Court in Pretoria during former finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s case against Oakbay Investments‚ he was “comfortable” with his decision to purchase the company.
“It does not concern me now. If there was any unlawfulness the courts would have said so. They gave no value to the FIC report. I trust our country’s courts in their judgments.
“The only people who have ever convicted the Guptas are the media and the public and that’s only ever been done on a litany of allegations and no prima facie evidence.”
He said people needed to understand that the FIC merely raised suspicions‚ which required explanations.
“Their suspicions do not necessarily mean that transactions are Media‚ Atul Gupta and Varun Gupta totalling R6.9-million‚ and;
● Suspicious transactions on April 13 2016 between TNA Media and Atul Gupta totalling R7.9-million.
In another document containing information on suspicious cross-border foreign-exchange transactions between the Guptas‚ their associates and their linked businesses‚ are two transactions where money was transferred to and from Essel Group.
Essel Media was ostensibly Infinity Media’s foreign investor and‚ along with Oakbay Investments‚ held a 35% stake in the company.
The first cross-border foreigntransaction thought to be suspicious was a R10-million payment from Oakbay investments to Essel Media on March 2 2016.
The second‚ a R9.9-million payment for shares from Essel Media to Infinity Media‚ was in March 2013. — BDLive