PICS: Inside the Gupta’s luxury R445 million mansion in Dubai

The Gupta's Dubai mansion has 10 bedrooms, about 35 staff members, a couch which once belonged to Michael Jackson, and more.

Outside Emirate Hills mansion owned by the Gupta brothers.

All eyes are back on the Gupta family after Rajesh and Atul Gupta were handcuffed in Dubai this week, placing questions about their luxury lifestyle back in the spotlight.

The brothers’ arrest follows an Interpol red notice which was issued last year for the friends of former President Jacob Zuma, who were wanted for widespread graft, fraud, and money laundering.

There have been calls to extradite the Gupta brothers back to South Africa for years, since they fled to the UAE.

The brothers face several charges and were implicated by numerous witnesses at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture – chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo – for the looting of billions of rands from South African coffers.

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The fugitives and their families have lived in the luxury Emirates Hills community in Dubai for the last couple of years. Prateek Chaudhry, a Dubai-based designer and friend of the Guptas gave The National a glimpse into the brothers’ lives.

He told the United Arab Emirates (UAE) publication that he was a frequent visitor of their Emirates Hills mansion and explained that the family is quite close.

Chaudhry says the whole family lived together in the same house, including their wives and children. “They were one big joint family,” he said. Adding he visited the Guptas in 2018 and 2019. The interior designer described Atul as low profile in the way he dressed and spoke.

He further went on to describe the Gupta home as a haven for the family with plenty of opulence.

The mansion had about 35 members of staff, with butlers hired from the city’s top hotels. It boasted 10 bedrooms, a grand staircase, multiple reception rooms, marble floors, and chandeliers to top of the over-the-top in gold inlay work which decorates much of the house.

Chaudhry claims the furniture in the living rooms was once owned by Russian tsars, a sofa owned by music icon Michael Jackson, and miniature models of six private jets that the family owns were on display.

The Gupta Dubai mansion first piqued interest in South Africa back in 2016, when City Press reported the home was worth R445 million.