DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (AP) – Dubai police said yesterday they arrested two brothers from the Gupta family wanted in connection to a corruption case involving former South African President Jacob Zuma.
The arrest of Atul and Rajesh Gupta, who had lived for years in the sheikhdom, represents the latest major extradition arrest to be made by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai has long welcomed the wealthy with little question into the luxury neighbourhoods.
With the UAE now heading the international policing body Interpol, the country has faced renewed questioning over its lax checks on money laundering and reluctance to extradite suspects. That has only increased as Russian money flows into the Arabian Peninsula nation amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Police issued a statement saying they arrested the brothers “in connection with money laundering and criminal charges in South Africa”.
The two, and their brother Ajay, had been suspected of hiding out in Dubai since fleeing South Africa around the same time Zuma resigned in 2018 amid allegations he had overseen massive levels of corruption.
South Africa’s City Press newspaper reported that the Gupta family had purchased a USD30 million residence in Dubai’s Emirates Hills neighbourhood.