Atul Gupta wins case to have his R10m unfrozen

The High Court in Bloemfontein has ruled in favour of Atul Gupta to have R10 million in his personal bank account unfrozen.

A related preservation order has also been amended, meaning that only R40 million of the original R220 million that the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) wanted preserved remains frozen.

Gupta’s lawyers reportedly argued that the R10 million wasn’t the only money in his personal account.

Atul Gupta, the second eldest of the three Gupta brothers, had filed the high court application challenging the preservation of R10 million from his bank account by the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) AFU in connection with the Vrede Dairy Project in Free State.

Last month, the AFU obtained the order in relation to the controversial dairy project which the Gupta family and their associates – through their company Estina – allegedly siphoned off more than R200 million meant to benefit emerging black farmers in Vrede. Only R2 million is said to have been spent on the farm.

R10 million was allegedly deposited into Atul’s personal bank account by Estina before the project was even up and running.  He has denied this in his affidavit.

Gupta confirmed he was out of the country.

Last month, seven of the eight people arrested by the Hawks during raids at the Gupta’s compound in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, were granted bail in the Bloemfontein Regional Court.

Government officials Peter Thabethe, Sylvia Dlamini and Takisi Masiteng were each granted R10 000 bail, while Gupta-linked accused Varun Gupta, Ronica Ragavan, Nazeem Howa and Ashu Chawla were each granted R200,000 bail. The Hawks have officially declared Ajay Gupta a fugitive.