Chinese deny links to Guptas
● The Chinese businessman suspected of laundering money for the Guptas this week distanced himself from the controversial family.
Tom Xingzhi Cao, executive president of the South Africa and China People’s Friendship Association, told the Sunday Times he had told law enforcement agencies he was available for questioning.
“I have never done any business with the Guptas and I don’t know why police are linking me to them. I don’t even know Soo Young Jean and never met her. I am not a criminal.”
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said Soo Young Jean had been charged in absentia along with seven other people who appeared in the Bloemfontein Regional Court 10 days ago. The charges relate to corruption involving the Vrede dairy farm.
“We believe that she is currently overseas. She is accused of laundering money for the Guptas,” Mulaudzi said.
Last week the Sunday Times published photos of Cao and a woman believed to be Soo Young Jean after law agencies said both were wanted for questioning about the Guptas.
This week the Sunday Times learnt that the woman in the picture was in fact Anita Zhu, president of the Africa Chinese Women’s Association.
“This is a setup, someone from the Chinese community deliberately supplied you with my photos just to defame me,” Zhu said. “I am not a fugitive and have no association with the Guptas.”
Zhu said the Chinese embassy believed Soo Young Jean might really be Korean.