The Economic Freedom Fighters is on Sunday set to open a criminal case against the Gupta family and their company directors after “suspicious” transactions were revealed in a court application by finance minister Pravin Gordhan.
EFF spokesperson Fana Mokoena said their case was based on prima facie evidence in Gordhan’s affidavit, part of his application to the high court in Pretoria on Friday.
His affidavit contained 72 transactions worth R6,8bn that were listed as “suspicious” by the Financial Intelligence Centre because there had been “no apparent business or lawful purpose” for the transfers.
Mokoena claimed this amount was just the tip of the iceberg.
The party believed the family and their businesses were involved in “money laundering, racketeering and gross corruption”.
A confident Ajay Gupta — the man considered as the patriarch of the Gupta family business — on Saturday brushed off the reports implicating his family and their companies.
Gupta, speaking from abroad, denied that any member of the Gupta family or any of their businesses had been involved in any dubious transactions.
“I really don’t know much about the papers [filed by Gordhan], but I can tell you that there is zero chance that any of those payments could have been suspicious in any way,” said Gupta.
He added that he had not had time to study the court papers.
It was not clear where Gupta finds himself at present, but he vowed to discuss the issue on Sunday, when he would be back in the country.
Mokoena said they would go to the Rosebank police station in Johannesburg at 12pm.
There they would open a case against Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta and all their company directors, “including Duduzane Zuma, who’s Jacob Zuma’s proxy in Gupta businesses”.
The EFF believed that a thorough criminal investigation was needed.
Mokoena said this should be defined by the cooperation of the banks, the FIC, the treasury and other parties.