JOHANNESBURG – The Department of Justice on Monday night confirmed that two of the Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, have been arrested in Dubai.
In a short statement, the department said: “The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services confirms that it has received information from law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that fugitives of justice, namely, Rajesh and Atul Gupta have been arrested.”
A red Interpol notice was issued for the brothers who were wanted for widespread graft, fraud, and money laundering.
The department said discussions between various law enforcement agencies in the UAE and South Africa on
the matter were ongoing. Reports suggest a high-level meeting of law enforcement agencies is currently taking place in Pretoria.
The Gupta brothers and their wives fled South Africa amid investigations into their alleged looting of billions of rands from state-owned enterprises.
The National Prosecuting Authority applied to the international criminal police organisation to assist with the execution of arrest warrants.
The total cost of state capture is estimated to run into tens of billions of rands with many of the country’s main parastatals looted.
Eskom is battling to get back on track and as a result, there is frequent load shedding as the utility saw billions taken instead of being allocated to development.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has found in his state capture report that Eskom, SAA, Transnet, Denel, Prasa and many other entities were crippled by widespread theft and corruption.
The NPA and SA Revenue Service were also considered to be among the institutions that were captured.
The overall effect of state capture lead to low economic growth, poor development and a country battling to recover.
The NPA has begun prosecuting some singled out in the state capture commission reports, with former Transnet executive arrested.
By the arrest of the Gupta brothers is see as first prize, along with the recovery of billions of rands in stolen money.
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