Court puts freeze on R1.75bn Gupta mine rehab trust funds

THE Pretoria High Court has granted an urgent interim interdict to freeze the R1.75-billion rehabilitation trust funds of the Gupta-owned Optimum and Koornfontein coal mines.

The application for the interim interdict‚ which was brought by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa)‚ was unopposed yesterday.

The main application will be heard on December 7.

The funds are being kept by the Bank of Baroda‚ which fought off an urgent application by 20 Gupta family companies last week to force it to keep their accounts open.

Baroda is the fifth bank in South Africa to close all accounts linked to the Gupta family‚ after the “big four” banks – FNB‚ Absa‚ Nedbank and Standard Bank – closed their accounts last year. Outa, in court papers, expressed concern that the rehabilitation funds could be at risk considering the imminent account closures at the end of the month.

Previous reports claimed that the Gupta family owed Baroda about R800-million.

According to Outa‚ the interim order directs Baroda to hold on to the funds of Optimum and Koornfontein mines.

The trustees or those with signing powers are interdicted from dealing in any way with‚ disposing of or removing from South Africa any of the funds or assets of the trust.

Outa chief operating officer Ben Theron said: “This is another sweet victory for South Africa‚ with the prevention of Gupta mining trust accounts worth at least R1.75-billion from leaving our shores or being plundered by the Guptas.”