Gupta Brothers arrested in UAE for massive government fraud in South Africa

South Africa’s justice department is working with the UAE to repatriate the Gupta brothers who are wanted in connection with massive fraud in the country that involved ex-president Jacob Zuma.

The brothers who fled to the UAE some years ago were arrested on Monday, June 7 under an Interpol red-letter notice that took more than a year to enforce according to EWN South Africa.

The Gupta brothers have been found guilty in a South African court of major corruption involving government contracts and the looting of government coffers, some in partnership with past president Jacob Zuma. .

The pair are said to have stolen billions of Rands from government-owned organisations by colluding with the management of these organisations. Many of those organisations where the fraud took place are today still struggling to survive, with the country as a whole being left in a precarious financial position.

Such was the scale of the fraud that it affected South Africa’s credit rating leaving the country unable to borrow the money required to fix its ailing infrastructure and grow its economy.

The legacy of their theft is still felt today with the railways and South African Airways both struggling financially, and the country facing continued blackouts with money set aside to grow the energy supply stolen.

Jacob Zuma is currently being tried for allowing the capture to take place by rendering the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and South African Revenue Service (Sars) powerless to take action. A number of other high profile cases have seen many of those involved sentenced, however, there are still many more cases pending.

For South Africans, the arrest of the Gupta brothers is a milestone in changing the perception of the country and in dealing with corruption. The question now remains, how and if any of the billion stolen can be recovered.

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