Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola.
The whereabouts of the Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, were unknown to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities, according to Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola.
Lamola revealed this when he was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach.
Breytenbach wrote to the minister enquiring whether Interpol’s Red Notices attached to Rajesh and Atul Gupta for their arrest to face fraud and money laundering charges in South Africa, among others.
She also wanted to know whether the government has been informed of the Gupta brothers’ current whereabouts.
South Africa’s extradition application was dismissed earlier this year based on “technicalities” after the extradition application was heard in a closed court.
The Gupta brothers were arrested in the UAE in June 2022 and the formal extradition request was delivered by South Africa the following month.
In his written response, Lamola said he led a South African delegation in June to the UAE to engage UAE Justice Minister Addullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi and director of International Co-operation at the UAE Central Authority, Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al Balushi on the extradition request for the Gupta brothers and other areas of cooperation.
“The delegation enquired regarding the current whereabouts of Mr Atul Kumar Gupta and Mr Rajesh Kumar Gupta, but was informed by Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al Balushi that the whereabouts of the Gupta brothers are not known to the UAE authorities,” he said.
Lamola also said during the meeting he expressed his concern about the status of the Gupta request and the court’s findings that they could not be extradited to South Africa.
“The delegation then suggested measures that could be taken to facilitate the successful extradition and emphasised that this is a matter of national interest for South Africa,” he said.
Lamola said UAE Minister of Justice Addullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi assured South Africa that the UAE would put the necessary measures in place to meet its international obligations in terms of the Extradition Treaty to assist and support South Africa in its quest for the extradition of the Gupta brothers.
“To this end it was agreed that a virtual technical meeting between the prosecutors in the UAE and South Africa will take place as soon as possible,” he said.
Cape Times