Guptas should have nowhere to hide
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomes reports that Indian authorities are taking action against the Gupta family.
“The fact that a foreign country (in this case the Guptas’ home country) is taking action against people who commit criminal acts in South Africa is extremely encouraging to us,” says Wayne Duvenage, OUTA’s CEO.
“We view this as constructive international collaboration that makes it tough for those who commit such crimes to get away with their transgressions.”
OUTA welcomes the reported action by Indian authorities.
“We trust they will help South Africa by repatriating any funds stolen from our government back to our national coffers,” says Duvenage.
In South Africa, there are three preservation orders against funds and properties linked to the illicit gains by the Gupta business empire: one order freezing mine rehabilitation funds which was obtained by OUTA in September last year, and two orders obtained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit arising from the Vrede dairy farm project and the Eskom payments to consultants McKinsey and Trillian.
Today in South Africa, there was a raid by immigration officials on ANN7, the TV station nominally “sold” by the Guptas to frontman Mzwanele Manyi, with four undocumented immigrants reported arrested.
“The Guptas have let the citizens of India down, by coming to South Africa and hijacking our state funds for their personal gain. They have embarrassed the Indian community across the world and we are pleased that their conduct has been communicated in both mainstream and social media throughout India,” says Duvenage.