Arrest of Guptas might be imminent

Court papers ‘ready’

THE Gupta brothers implicated in state capture allegations may be arrested within days, according to information provided to sister title The Saturday Star.

“The Hawks and SAPS are focused on giving NPA ‘ Court Ready’ dockets,” a highly-placed source familiar with the investigations told the newspaper. “We have been silently working hard.”

However, the lawyer for the Guptas, Gert van der Merve, said he was not aware of any imminent arrests.

“I don’t know (about that) but I can try to give you information if you help with the names (of those implicated). I am not aware of this and haven’t received any instruction from them (Guptas).”

Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said last night: “I am not aware (of imminent arrests). (There’s) too much speculation running around (sic).”

When asked if the Guptas were still in South Africa, The Saturday Star’s source said: “We don’t foresee any suspect skipping the country… at least we are aware of that and made requisite plans to mitigate against it.”

There had been speculation that the Gupta brothers were either in Dubai or their home country India.

The source also hinted that others implicated in the state capture investigations could also be arrested in “less than seven days or so”.

Those implicated include President Jacob Zuma, his son Duduzane, several ministers and executive officers of a number of the country’s parastatals.

“We are investigating 17 individual state capture cases… six are in (an) advanced stage”, the source said.

The investigations had been initiated in July, with investigators “turning witnesses and obtaining preservation orders”, the source said.

The news of the possible arrests is the latest in a series of recent moves by the Hawks into investigating state capture.

Yesterday, the priority crimes unit raided the offices of one of Zuma’s staunchest supporters, Ace Magashule. Hawks raided the Free State Premier’s offices as part of their investigations into state capture, in particular into the Estina Vrede dairy farm project. Today the Hawks are expected to raid the farm.

Last week, the Free State High Court ordered that the the assets of the Guptas and those of high-ranking politicians such as Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane – accrued through a multi-million rand Estina dairy project in the Free State be frozen.

The scale of the looting using the project, which was supposedly established while Zwane was MEC for agriculture in the province, to benefit emerging black farmers, was revealed in a preservation order granted to the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) last week by Judge Fouche Jordaan.

The court ordered that an amount not exceeding R220 million, “which constitutes proceeds of crime”, could be seized by the AFU from various bank accounts linked to the Estina dairy project in Vrede in the Free State.

The money was paid in seven tranches between April 2013 and May 2016, but soon after it had been deposited into the dairy project’s accounts, the money was transferred to the accounts of several other Gupta-linked companies.

The AFU application details how Atul Gupta personally benefited to the tune of R10m, while further stating “there was no justification for the payment of an amount of R14.5m to Oakbay Investments, as its core business is not agriculture”.

This comes as Zuma’s position as head of state appears precarious with speculation rife that he might be recalled before the State of the Nation Address next month.

Zuma hasn’t been seen in public since the ANC elective conference in Nasrec last month, which ushered in new leadership under Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was asked yesterday in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) conference whether, once in power, he would grant Zuma a presidential pardon. “We have the rule of law in our country and people always want to see justice done without fear, without favour,” he told the BBC.

This week Ramaphosa wooed investors at the WEF, promising justice for those guilty of state corruption.

“Everyone agrees that our state was captured by corrupt elements, by people who purported to be close to the president, who have been doing really bad things,” he said.

Attempts last night to contact the Gupta family were unsuccessful.

Atul Gupta had not responded to a enquiry sent on his cellphone yesterday. – Additional reporting by AFP