Gupta temple allegedly funded by ‘dirty money’

The elite corruption-busting unit, the Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have passed the buck to each other on the delayed extradition of the Gupta brothers – who are now also facing a new investigation about a Hindu temple they allegedly built fraudulently in their Indian hometown.

The New York Times (NYT) yesterday reported that the Indian authorities are investigating whether a temple built by the Guptas in Saharanpur was built with money allegedly stolen from South Africa.

The $28 million (R410.5 million) Shivadham Temple is now being investigated by the Indian authorities as the cornerstone of an elaborate scheme to launder “illicit money from the Gupta fortune in South Africa”, the paper said.

“The new temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva in their father’s honour, is now being investigated for the same kind of self-dealing and fraud the family is accused of mastering in South Africa,” NYT reported.

In August the Hawks’ head, Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on police that the unit was investigating the Guptas relating to the state capture project in which more than R40 billion was plundered from state coffers.

They were being assisted by other agencies to return the Guptas to face corruption charges in South Africa.

But when approached for comment yesterday about the progress of the delayed extradition of the fugitive brothers, the Hawks and NPA pointed fingers at each other.

NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said they had no role in the matter until it was finished by the police and handed over to them.

Mfaku stressed that the extradition process was the duty of the police. However, Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said they had handed the matter over to the NPA. “Our side is done,” he said.

Later, Mulaudzi appeared to backtrack, saying he had said they did not want to release information piecemeal, until they had completed all the investigations. “We want to make sure that we deal with this matter in full, we don’t want to release our investigations while other things are still outstanding,” he said.

NYT interviewed the eldest of the three brothers, Ajay Gupta, who denied any wrongdoing and expressed anger at the accusation about the temple. “It’s a thousand percent lie, I’ll kill the person and I’ll kill myself before I use a cent for this kind of a thing,” The New York Times quoted him as saying.

The 38m long monument, of pink sandstone and white marble, has a conference room bearing a portrait of Shiv Kumar Gupta, who had inspired his sons to leave India to seek their fortunes. Construction on the temple site in Saharanpur began last month with a giant yellow crane raising the temple.

Ajay Gupta denied any wrongdoing, also claiming they faced no criminal charges in South Africa. But he conceded the family empire was bankrupt.

The paper’s front page story headlined “In Family’s Rise And Fall, a Tale Rife With Graft”, traced the Guptas’ journey to amass wealth after arriving in South Africa just prior to 1994. They established a business empire using connections within the ruling ANC, becoming one of the richest families in the new South Africa.

“The rise and fall of the Gupta brothers is so improbable that in Saharanpur their story is told like a parable,” the paper said.

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