Pretoria – The South African Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services on Thursday said it was “concerned” about the silence from authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) regarding the extradition of fugitive brothers Atul and Rajesh Gupta.
The brothers, who are wanted in South Africa for fraud and money laundering, were arrested in the UAE in June last year and since then there has been no official word on their fate.
Before their arrest, Interpol, now headed up by UAE police chief General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi issued a red notice.
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On Thursday, the SA department of justice said the ministry “awaits an update on the status of its extradition application pertaining to Mr Atul Gupta and Mr Rajesh Gupta from the United Arab Emirates”.
“To date, the Central Authority has made various enquiries, the latest request is an urgent meeting between the two central authorities and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates,” the justice department said.
“Minister Ronald Lamola is concerned that following a visit by the Central Authority to the United Arab Emirates to ensure that the application meets the requirements of the UAE authorities, there has not been update on the first court appearance of the fugitives to determine whether there will be a hearing on the application for extradition.”
The department added: “The ministry is pursuing this matter via the diplomatic channels pursuant to the extradition treaty between the two countries.”
South Africa ratified extradition treaties with the UAE in June 2022.
Extradition update: Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife, Mary
In an update of another outstanding extradition matter involving Chipiliro Gama – widely known as Prophet Shepherd Bushiri – and his wife Mary, the department said it was preparing to comply with a recent Malawi high court order.
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“Following the judgment of the High Court of Malawi, which clarified that South African law enforcement agents would be required to appear as witnesses at the extradition hearing, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is engaged with the various role players to facilitate the logistics required,” the department said.
Bushiri and his wife skipped bail and fled South Africa for Malawi in late 2020.
The pair are wanted in South Africa for fraud and money laundering involving more than 100 million rand.
