Guptas face at least four legal investigations – report

City Press and News24 have reported that the legal scrutiny of the Gupta family appears to be intensifying and that four separate investigations of the family, their companies and those close to them are under way.

The paper reports that former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane are also under investigation by the Hawks, according to a tranche of documents they were given detailing some of the ongoing work of the Serious Corruption Investigation unit.

Molefe is reportedly being investigated for possibly having received “kickbacks” from either the Guptas directly or any of their companies.

According to a Hawks report, former ANC MP and Gupta whistle-blower Vytjie Mentor has allegedly not been cooperating fully with an investigation into state capture and has not provided details about the period when she was allegedly induced by the Guptas at their Saxonwold compound to aid them in corruption.

The R600 million bribe allegedly offered to former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas is also being investigated.

The cases in question followed the laying of charges by opposition politicians, including those from the EFF, DA and the Congress of the People.

In an additional report, the paper revealed that the Guptas allegedly also recently benefited from a R70 million VAT refund paid to them by the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

Insiders at Sars told City Press that the refund to the Gupta’s primary company Oakbay was “far from regular” and it required the alleged personal intervention of Sars boss Tom Moyane to get it paid.

Oakbay reportedly wanted their refund paid into an overseas account, which would have been illegal. The company then asked for the money to go to a lawyer’s trust account, which is also irregular since refunds should only be paid into the account of the registered taxpayer.

When Moyane allegedly ensured the payment to the lawyer’s trust account occurred, tax employees were left “feeling despondent and angry”.

Sars refused to confirm or deny any of the allegations, citing its responsibility to maintain taxpayer confidentiality.