Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

South Africa corruption: Wealthy Gupta brothers arrested in UAE

South Africa corruption: Wealthy Gupta brothers arrested in UAE

Two brothers from the wealthy Gupta family have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, the South African government has announced.
Atul and Rajesh Gupta are accused in South Africa of profiting from their close links with former president Jacob Zuma and exerting unfair influence.

Extradition talks are taking place with the UAE, South African officials say.

The brothers fled South Africa after a judicial commission began probing their involvement in corruption in 2018.

They are accused of paying financial bribes in order to win lucrative state contracts and influence powerful government appointments.

The family moved from India to South Africa in 1993. They also face accusations of money laundering in India, where tax officials raided properties belonging to them in 2018 in multiple cities, including their company office in the capital Delhi.

Many of the most serious corruption allegations leveled against the Indian-born brothers focus on their relationship with Jacob Zuma, who was president of South Africa from 2009 until he was forced to step down amid a storm of corruption allegations nine years later.

The Gupta family is accused of using their close links with Zuma to wield enormous political power across all levels of South African government - winning business contracts, influencing high-profile government appointments and misappropriating state funds.

Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing.

After the brothers fled the country, South Africa negotiated an extradition treaty with the UAE in 2021.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's government has said it hoped the agreement would lead to the return of the Guptas to face charges, but it was not immediately clear following the arrests whether the brothers will return to South Africa.

The Gupta family became so closely linked with Zuma that a joint term was even coined for them — the Zuptas.

One of Zuma's wives, as well as a son and daughter, had positions working in senior roles for Gupta-controlled companies.

Many of the companies in the Gupta portfolio profited from lucrative contracts with government departments and state-owned corporations — where public officials say they were directly instructed by the family to take decisions that would advance the brothers' business interests.

It is alleged that compliance was rewarded with money and promotion, while disobedience was punished with dismissal.

The list of public bodies accused of having been "captured" is extensive — the ministries of finance, natural resources and public enterprises, as well as agencies responsible for tax collection and communications, the state broadcaster SABC, the national carrier, South African Airways, the state-owned rail-freight operator and the energy giant Eskom - one of the largest utility companies on the planet.

A four-year investigation later published by the country's top judge concluded that the wealthy brothers had become deeply embedded in the highest levels of government and Mr Zuma's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.

Reports published this year by investigators accuse the brothers of being linked to racketeering activity through the procurement of rail, ports and pipeline infrastructure.

Its authors also concluded that Zuma "would do anything that the Guptas wanted him to do for them".

Last year Zuma was imprisoned for 15 months for refusing to testify before the same investigators. He was released on parole after serving two months of his sentence in jail.

Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta moved to South Africa from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in 1993, just after the fall of apartheid.

It is said that when Atul arrived to set up the family business Sahara Computers, he was amazed by the lack of red tape.

They grew the company to employ more than 10,000 people in South Africa, also developing financial interests in the mining, air travel, energy, technology and media sectors.

Atul Gupta said he met Zuma before he became president "when he was a guest in one of Sahara's annual functions".
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×