This is how the Guptas are connected to the Vrede dairy farm
The Hawks have raided properties owned by the Gupta family on Wednesday, related to an investigation into the controversial Vrede dairy farm project
The raids that have targeted properties owned by the Gupta family on Wednesday are related to an investigation by the Hawks into the controversial Vrede dairy farm project. What was this project? Here is the back story. The project established a dairy farm in Vrede‚ in the Free State‚ in partnership with Gupta-linked company Estina. It was adopted by the provincial government without a tender. TimesLIVE disclosed in January that Estina had only R9‚000 in its bank account before the first payment of R34m was deposited by the Free State department of agriculture. Court papers filed by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) indicated that the project was allegedly a looting ground for the Gupta family and their associates. Altogether‚ R220m was poured into the project‚ with only about R2m being spent on the farm. There was little benefit derived by members of the local community. The AFU court papers alleged that R220m had been paid into three bank accounts co...
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