WASHINGTON: The US announced sanctions against South Africa's Indian-origin Gupta brothers for running a "significant corruption network" that leveraged its political connections to engage in bribery, capture government contracts and misappropriate state assets. Among those specifically named in the US Treasury Department's designation include Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, and their associate Salim Essa for their involvement in corruption in South Africa.
The Gupta family has relocated to Dubai amid corruption charges against them in South Africa. Ajay is the family patriarch who formulated the family's corrupt business strategies and controlled its finances, Atul is widely known to have overseen the Gupta family's outreach to corrupt government official, and Rajesh cultivated important relationships with the sons of powerful South African politicians and led efforts to pursue business and relationships in a South African province where corruption was rampant, the Treasury said.
Salim Essa, a business associate of the Gupta family, has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, technological support in the corruption network, the Treasury alleged. The sanctions announcement demonstrates the US government's unwavering commitment to supporting the rule of law and accountability in South Africa, the Treasury said.
"We support the anti-corruption efforts of South Africa's independent judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and the ongoing judicial commissions of inquiry. Moreover, we commend the extraordinary work by South Africa's civil society activists, investigative journalists, and whistleblowers, who have exposed the breadth and depth of the Gupta family's corruption," it said.
The Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned members of a significant corruption network in South Africa that leveraged over payments on government contracts, bribery, and other corrupt acts to fund political contributions and influence government actions.
"Specifically, OFAC designated Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, and Salim Essa for their involvement in corruption in South Africa pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act," it said.
"The Gupta family leveraged its political connections to engage in widespread corruption and bribery, capture government contracts, and misappropriate state assets. Treasury's designation targets the Guptas'' pay-to-play political patronage, which was orchestrated at the expense of the South African people," said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
