Who’s who on the US blacklist
The Gupta brothers and their business associate Salim Essa are the most recent additions to the 1 300-page United States blacklist, which includes familiar names such as Robert Mugabe, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Mail & Guardian dug through the list of more than 7 000 entries on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (Ofac’s) report, Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.
Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, along with Essa, are on page 468. This follows the US treasury’s announcement last week that they were sanctioned for using their political connections for nefarious ends.
The Gupta family and Essa were added to the list of just over 4 000 individuals who have been blacklisted for reasons ranging from drug trafficking to terrorism.
They were sanctioned under the category: Blocking the property of persons involved in serious human rights abuse or corruption.
Only 52 other individuals have been sanctioned under this specific executive order.
South African public interest lawyer Avani Singh says the order prevents US entities from doing business with the Gupta family and Essa or handling their assets and that the action will make it difficult for the named people to travel to the US.
Three other South African citizens are on the list: Farhad Ahmed Dockrat, Junaid Ismail Dockrat and Vladlen Amtchentsev. — Jacques Coetzee drought, while the garden, too, was in a state of neglect.
The M&G understands that a standalone property in Saxonwold, which once housed a Gupta cousin, has also been put on the market. But Tyson Property, which has facilitated the sale of some of the properties, would not confirm this, simply stating that it was bound by a strict ethical code that protects the privacy of their clients.
In Saxonwold, an “old money” suburb, properties routinely fetch prices in excess of R8-million. But at least one Gupta house has been sold for only R3.5-million.
“We cannot disclose confidential information about the sale of any property prior to its registration by the new owner. However, we would like to reassure you that we follow the law when processing all transactions,” said Tyson Property in a statement to the M&G.
At least 100 vehicles have previously been linked to the Guptas’ Saxonwold properties by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, including a Maserati, a Porsche, a Lamborghini and Range Rovers.
The 2015 Bombardier 6000 jet, with tail registration ZS-OAK, was last month put up for sale for about R440-million by Export Development Canada (EDC), which had financed the plane.
The private jet, which had flown the likes of former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane, was 80% financed by the EDC. The Guptas, through another of their companies, Westdawn, paid a R30-million deposit.
The Canadian company, which lodged a legal claim against the Guptas last year, grounded the jet in December 2017 at Euroairport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in France, after the family defaulted on the loan agreements. The EDC cited in its court papers that the jet was likely to be forfeited under South Africa’s Prevention of Organised Crime Act, given that the Guptas