Eight accused in Estina farm scandal, including a Gupta nephew, given bail
Bail has been granted to eight accused in the Estina dairy farm scandal case, which has embroiled Mineral Affairs Minister Msobenzi Zwane and the embattled Gupta family. The accused include Varun Gupta‚ Ashua Chawla‚ Kamal Vasram‚ Ronica Ragavan‚ Nazeem Howa, who all worked for the Gupta business empire. Also on the list are Free State agriculture department officials Peter Thebetha‚ Takisi Janki Masiteng and Department of Mineral Resources chief of staff Sylvia Dlamini. They all face a string of charges ranging from fraud and theft to corruption and money laundering. Gupta is the nephew of the controversial Gupta brothers‚ Ajay‚ Atul and Rajesh — who are at the heart of allegations around state capture. The 34-page indictment was presented in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday‚ where the accused appeared under a heavy police guard. It painted a damning picture of how senior government officials allegedly planned and helped the Gupta family swindle the state through th...
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