[ad_1]
An investigator testified at Zondo’s commission of inquiry into the state capture how the Guptas used a method known as smurf to launder money.
Hawks and SAPS officials at the Gupta compound in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, during a raid on February 14, 2018. Image: Thomas Holder / EWN
JOHANNESBURG – The state capture commission heard on Thursday how the Guptas used various money laundering methods, including one named after the Smurfs, to funnel money from the Free State to offshore entities and finance their lavish wedding in 2013.
Shadow World Investigations investigator in London, Paul Holden, detailed the transactions, including flows to Gupta’s wedding.
ALSO READ: ‘Companies like Estina paid millions of dollars to Gupta offshore companies’
But Holden said Estina was being used for money laundering a year before the Vrede Dairy Farm deal was signed.
“President, I’m not sure if you know the TV show The Smurfs? “Holden asked Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo.
Zondo said in response, “No, I am not.”
“The Smurfs are very small blue men and smurfing refers to the fact that they are taking a large amount of money, either reducing it to paying it off in a series of much smaller transactions,” Holden said.
He said companies like Estina paid millions of dollars to Gupta offshore companies, which paid other companies, including Linkway, who paid for the lavish Sun City wedding using the so-called smurf.
“It says transfer of agriculture from the Free State and then R30 million go to Estina’s account. And then what you can see below are the payments being made from the R5 million multi-payment Bank of Baroda account, ”Holden said.
Holden said that in other cases the Guptas opened fixed-deposit accounts with Estina payments and borrowed millions of dollars with the deposits as collateral.
LOOK: Procedures of the state capture commission
Download the EWN app on your iOS or Android device.
[ad_2]
