THE Dubai Court of Appeal rejected South Africa’s request to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta who was involved in two cases of money laundering, fraud, and corruption.
Dubbed the “most wanted” suspects in South Africa, the Gupta brothers are accused of looting billions from state-owned companies in the country while Interpol issued a Red Notice against them last year.
South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola expressed his shock and dismay over the Dubai court’s decision to reject his country’s request to extradite the Gupta brothers.
According to Lamola, the UAE court found that it had jurisdiction over the money laundering charges against the two brothers, as the offenses were allegedly committed both in the Gulf country and in South Africa.
The ultra-wealthy brothers were accused of using their connections with former South African President Jacob Zuma to win contracts, influence Cabinet appointments and loot state funds amounting to $32.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Court of Appeal said it rejected the extradition request since the documents submitted were canceled arrest warrant orders which failed to meet the conditions of the extradition agreement between the UAE and South Africa.
The UAE judiciary told South African authorities to resubmit their extradition request with new and additional papers.
