The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services has confirmed that it has received information from law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that fugitives of justice, namely, Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested in Dubai.
Atul and Rajesh Gupta were wanted in connection with the R24.9-million Nulane Investment fraud and money laundering case.
A red Interpol notice was issued for the brothers – despite the brothers claiming that the National Prosecuting Authority’s efforts to secure their arrests were politically motivated. Interpol, however, refused to grant red notices against the pair’s wives, Arthi and Chetali which led to the wives fleeing South Africa amid investigations.
Discussions between various law enforcement agencies in the UAE and South Africa on the way forward are ongoing. The South African government will continue to co-operate with the UAE.said Ministry in a statement
Reports suggest a high-level meeting of law enforcement agencies is currently taking place in Pretoria for the brothers.
The total cost of state capture is estimated to run into tens of billions of rands with many of South Africa’s main parastatals looted.
Eskom is battling to get back on track and as a result, there is frequent load-shedding as the utility saw billions taken instead of being allocated to development.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has found in his state capture report that Eskom, SAA, Transnet, Denel, Prasa, and many other entities were crippled by widespread theft and corruption. The NPA and SA Revenue Service were also considered to be among the institutions that were captured.
The overall effect of state capture leads to low economic growth, poor development, and a country battling to recover. The NPA has begun prosecuting some singled out in the state capture commission reports, with former Transnet executive arrested.
