US Sanctions Four Members Of Corruption Network In South Africa - Treasury

The United States has imposed sanctions against four members of a network in South Africa that allegedly engaged in the misappropriation of government assets, the Treasury Department announced in a press release on Thursday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2019) The United States has imposed sanctions against four members of a network in South Africa that allegedly engaged in the misappropriation of government assets, the Treasury Department announced in a press release on Thursday.

"Today, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign AssetsControl (OFAC) sanctioned members of a significant corruption network in South Africa that leveraged overpayments on government contracts, bribery, and other corrupt acts to fund political contributions and influence government actions," the release said. "Specifically, OFAC designated Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta, and Salim Essa for their involvement in corruption in South Africa pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act."

The Treasury said that after immigrating to South Africa in the 1990s, Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta grew their business mostly due to their large donations to a political party and their allegedly close relations with ex-South African President Jacob Zuma.

"The family has been implicated in several corrupt schemes in South Africa, allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through illegal deals with the South African government, obfuscated by a shadowy network of shell companies and associates linked to the family," the release said. "Credible reports of these corruption schemes include the Gupta family offering members of the South African government money or elevated positions within the government, in return for their cooperation with Gupta family business efforts."

Salim Essa is a business associate of the Gupta family, and has been sanctioned for supporting an entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, corruption, according to the Treasury.

The United States Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act in 2012 following the 2009 death of Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky, who investigators ruled died of natural causes in prison due to complications caused by diabetes and a heart problem. In 2016, the Congress expanded the legislation by adopting the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to impose sanctions on any entity or individual - regardless of nationality - implicated in human rights abuses or corruption. Other countries including the United Kingdom and Canada have adopted similar legislation.