How NPA deals with Guptas and their acolytes should send strong message to those who are corrupt
By Editorial
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Almost four weeks ago, with their friends cheering them on, Iqbal Sharma and his wife Tarina performed a sultry tango to celebrate her 45th birthday.
Attended by a veritable whoâs who of celebrity and media personalities, the party was hosted at the coupleâs palatial mansion in Morningside, in Johannesburgâs northern suburbs.
Late last week the gilded lives that the Sharmas had been living caved in when the National Prosecuting Authorityâs Investigating Directorate (ID) came knocking.
In no time the mansion, and their other properties worth millions, were seized after the High Court in the Free State granted the ID a restraining order that froze the assets of Sharma, his wife and the Gupta brothers over allegations of fraud, corruption and money laundering. The NPA accuses Sharma, through his company Nulane Investment 204, of siphoning million
President Cyril Ramaphosa has slammed corrupt state officials and multinational corporations for stripping government of its ability to deliver basic services to South Africans.
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Nulane recommended an Indian company, Paras Dairy, for the Vrede dairy project, now linked to the Estina fraud investigation.
The National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate has seized assets of the Guptas and their associate worth millions of Rands.
The seized assets include luxury properties in Morningside, Saxonwold and Constantia. Prosecutors have also sought help from Interpol to arrest the Guptas and extradite them to South Africa to face criminal charges, a statement from the Dorcetorate said. The High Court of South Africa, Free State Division, Bloemfontein granted the NPA s investigating Directorate a restraint order to freeze assets of Iqbal Sharma, his company Nulane Investments 204 (Pty) Ltd, and Islandsite Investments 180 (Pty) Ltd, which belongs to Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their wives, Chetali and Arti Gupta, respectively, it said.
Iqbal Meer Sharma, once a powerful South African government official in the Department of Trade and Industry, was arrested on Thursday in a massive fraud and corruption scandal linked to the controversial Gupta family.