Seboka: NPA not ruling out Gupta brothers’ chase
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate said it has not ruled out going after the Gupta brothers, Rajesh, and Atul, for allegedly having a hand in looting state coffers.
The brothers were wanted in the R25 million fraudulent Nulane Investments contract in the Free State where officials allegedly signed off on a feasibility study.
The contract is now known to be the precursor to the controversial Estina Dairy Farm project.
But the NPA was dealt a massive blow when the Bloemfontein High Court dismissed the case on Friday, acquitting three Gupta associates and three other former Free State officials.
The state previously alleged that a large portion of the R24.9 million allegedly paid to Nulane Investments for a feasibility study was diverted to the Gupta-owned company, Islandsite Investments.
The funds were earmarked for a rural development project in Free State.
The Gupta brothers were arrested in Dubai in 2022 in a bid to haul them back to South Africa to face fraud and money laundering charges in the Nulane trial.
South African authorities have since failed to secure the Gupta’s extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the six-week Nulane trial drew to a close.
Spokesperson for the NPA’s Investigating Directorate, Sindisiwe Seboka said authorities are in consultation about the future of the Guptas.
“Those deliberations and talks are currently at high-level, and I am not mandated to give details any further. In terms of the case between Atul and the others who are not here, that will be dealt with at a different stage.”
The Guptas, who are no longer in police custody in the UAE, are believed to have been spotted in Switzerland recently.
They are also now believed to acquired citizenship of the Pacific Ocean island of Vanuatu, raising further questions about South Africa’s plans to hold them accountable for state capture crimes.
-EWN
In other news – Faith Nketsi’s husband on the run as he flees his Hyde Park mansion
Troubled business mogul Nzuzo Njilo is allegedly on the run after the South African Police Service issued a warrant of arrest against him. A local publication has it that Njilo has since vacated his multimillion-rand Hyde Park mansion in the leafy suburbs of Johannesburg amid a police search.
Reports have it that the mansion was sold over a month ago. In the wake of these developments, little is known about his whereabouts, given that the mansion’s address was his last known address. Learn More
