Guptas could lay criminal charges if e-mails were hacked

The Guptas could be laying criminal charges if it is found their emails were hacked‚ the family’s lawyer said.

Sunday newspapers revealed damning e-mails that showed the extent to which Zuma and government ministers are controlled by the Gupta family.

Some of the e-mails indicate that the Guptas were key to a plan for Zuma and his family to acquire residency in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Other e-mails show that the Guptas were sent Mosebenzi Zwane’s CV before he was appointed minerals minister and that they intervened to ensure that the powers of the then communications minister‚ Faith Muthambi‚ were strengthened.

The e-mails also reveal that the Guptas or their associates paid for luxury trips or hotel stays for government and parastatal officials‚ including Eskom’s Matshela Koko‚ cooperative governance minister Des van Rooyen and Denel director Dan Mantsha.

Gert van der Merwe‚ a lawyer for the Guptas‚ on Monday questioned the authenticity of the emails.

“I’m waiting for them [newspapers] to give me the documents‚ so that I can at least inspect them … I assume one will have to do two things. Firstly‚ understand whether these documents are in fact accurate and contextualised. The second thing is‚ one must understand how it got into the possession of the newspapers‚” Van der Merwe told .

“If the e-mails are accurate‚ I’d like to consult with those witnesses‚ understand under which circumstances they wrote it and I think that’s only fair.”

He said he would consider further action if the newspapers had infringed on his client’s right to privacy.

“If it’s an infringement of my client’s right to privacy‚ that’s something I’ll take further with the newspapers.”

Van der Merwe also told : “You send something in good faith and entrust it to somebody else. But if it was hacked‚ it is a criminal offence and I would advise my client to press criminal charges.”

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE