INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
on Friday raided Bank of Baroda's offices, and seized documents during an ongoing investigation into corruption that was perpetrated carried
out under former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma, a police spokesman said
Bank of Baroda is set to close its operations in South Africa.The state-run bank was embroiled into the spotlight nearly two years ago when
it started working with the Gupta family, Indian-born businesspersons who are at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal surrounding
Jacob Zuma.Zuma and the Guptas deny wrongdoing
bank transactions involving South African state firms, Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the police's elite "Hawks" unit, said."We are of
the view that Bank of Baroda was used as a conduit for the transfer of illicit funds
The raids are happening as part of 'state capture' investigations," Mulaudzi said, using a phrase coined to describe alleged
influence-peddling under Zuma.A Bank of Baroda employee in Durban who picked up the telephone confirmed the Hawks had visited the bank's
premises on Friday."This search and seizure operation is not for investigation on Bank of Baroda
This requisition by the Hawks is in relation to the continuing ongoing investigation of the Gupta family," the bank said in a statement on
Saturday.The bank has been cooperating with investigating agencies and has shared relevant documents with them, it said.An inquiry into
allegations surrounding Zuma and the Guptas will begin formal public hearings in August and could take two years or more, officials have
said.Police earlier this year raided the compound of the Guptas in Johannesburg as part of an investigation into theft, fraud and money
laundering at a state-backed dairy project in the Free State province that was meant to benefit the local community.The whereabouts of the
Gupta brothers is not publicly known
One of the brothers, Ajay Gupta, was declared a "fugitive from justice" after leaving South Africa for Dubai in February.Gupta family
representatives in South Africa could not be reached for comment.Zuma was in court on Friday for a separate hearing relating to a $2.5
billion arms deal from the 1990s
edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
