Atul Gupta and Rajesh Gupta have been arrested in UAE. File
New Delhi:
The South African authorities said on Monday that Rajesh Gupta and Atul Gupta, were arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Gupta brothers are accused of benefitting from their ties to former South African President Jacob Zuma and wielding undue influence, claims they have categorically denied.
The brothers are wanted for graft, fraud and money laundering and an Interpol Red Notice was also issued for them. They were accused of swaying powerful government appointments, winning contracts, siphoning off state finances, and misappropriating state assets.
Mr Zuma was in power from 2009 until 2018 when he was forced to resign due to a barrage of corruption allegations. In 2018, the Gupta brothers fled South Africa after a judicial commission began probing their involvement in corruption following Zuma’s ouster.
Officials from South Africa claimed they were in talks with the UAE about extradition and negotiated an extradition deal in 2021.
The South African Department of Justice and Correctional Services said in a statement on Monday, “The ministry of justice and correctional services confirms that it has received information from law enforcement authorities in the UAE that fugitives of justice, namely Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested.”
The statement added that law enforcement agencies in the UAE and South Africa are discussing the way forward.
According to a BBC report, the Gupta family and Zuma became so inextricably tied that they were dubbed the Zuptas. One of Mr Zuma’s wives, as well as a son and daughter, worked in top positions in Gupta-controlled enterprises.
The brothers are also suspected of money laundering in India, where tax authorities raided their homes in multiple places throughout the country in 2018, including their company’s headquarters in Delhi.
In 1993, Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta moved from Uttar Pradesh to South Africa. They started their family business under the name Sahara Computers.
The company had over 10,000 employees in South Africa and developed financial holdings in mining, air transport, energy, technology and media.
