Photo: allafrica.com
Top: Title image of former public protector Thuli
Madonsela's "State of Capture" report. Bottom-left: Atul Gupta and
President Jacob Zuma. Bottom-right: Former public protector Thuli
Madonsela.
The
DA will lay criminal charges of money laundering and corruption against
the Bank of Baroda, following allegations that the bank deliberately
laundered money on behalf of the Gupta family.
On Tuesday, the
Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP) released a report which
contains damning allegations against the Indian state-owned bank. The
OCCRP found that:
Officials at the
bank's South African branch deliberately suppressed employees' reports
of questionable Gupta-related transactions so that regulators would not
be made aware of them.
Some transactions
and deposits lacked required documentation, and where information was
provided, it was either inconsistent or incorrect.
There were also
millions of back-to-back intercompany loans with no legitimate business
or legal purpose, in what seems to have been an attempt to disguise the
origins of the money.
Some of the funds supposedly originated from Eskom and Transnet.
The cash flowing
through Gupta family accounts was so large that it dominated the
transactions of the entire Bank of Baroda branch in Johannesburg.
If these
allegations are true it is a clear violation of the Financial
Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act 38 of 2001, which means there are grounds
for criminal charges and/or fines.
The DA believes
that these allegations should be thoroughly investigated and we will now
proceed to lay charges against the Bank of Baroda, in terms of Sections
29 and 52 of the FIC Act.
If these
allegations prove true, it would seem as though the Bank of Baroda has
knowingly facilitated the illicit flows of money from state-owned
entities to Gupta accounts. Despite South African banks shutting down
their accounts with the Guptas as well as the mounting evidence of State
Capture, the Bank of Baroda continued to do business with the family
and their companies.
The DA will
continue to fight against those who directly and indirectly facilitated
State Capture in both the public and private sector and we will ensure
that they are held accountable for any wrongdoing.
Natasha Mazzone MP
DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises
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