Bank of Baroda ready to dump Gupta accounts

The Bank of Baroda, facing pressure from its parent company in India, is said to be preparing to close the Gupta family's accounts at the end of this month.

The big four South African banks dumped the family as clients between February and September. The Bank of China soon followed suit. The family is viewed as "politically exposed". Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in court papers in October revealed that "suspicious and unusual" banking transactions by the Guptas and their companies, amounting to about R7-billion, had been reported by banks to the Financial Intelligence Centre. It is understood that Baroda is under pressure to close the accounts from its parent company in India, which is a member of the Financial Action Task Force, as are China and South Africa. The task force is a global policy-making body formed to combat money-laundering and terrorist financing. Financial news agency Bloomberg yesterday reported that the Baroda closures had begun. The Gupta companies include Oakbay Investments, Oakbay Resources and Energy, Tegeta, JIC Mining Services, TNA Media, the African News Network, VR Laser and Sahara Computers. Oakbay yesterday said the reports that Bank of Baroda in South Africa was closing the accounts were "not correct" and claimed that they were part of a smear campaign and an attempt to "put pressure" on the bank. "This is just more evidence of a campaign, by some, against Oakbay based, as usual, on nothing more than innuendo," the company said. Gupta lawyer Gert van der Merwe said no notice of the closure of the accounts had been received. The Bank of Baroda in South Africa referred all queries to its head office in Mumbai. The head office could not be contacted. The pressure on the family - President Jacob Zuma's friends and family benefactors - mounted after revelations by Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas that he had been offered the post of finance minister shortly before the incumbent, Nhlanhla Nene, was fired. Salim Essa, an associate of the Gupta family, is reportedly attempting to buy the South African unit of the Pakistan-based Habib Overseas Bank. The proposed purchase is reportedly opposed by the Reserve Bank.