Activist Peter Hain has enlisted the help of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to track down about R7bn in money thought to have been laundered through the Guptas’ networks, and ensure it is returned to SA’s Treasury. The Financial Times reported on Thursday that British financial watchdogs had been asked to investigate Standard Chartered and HSBC in connection with possible links to the widening state capture scandal surrounding the Guptas and President Jacob Zuma. The Guptas and Zuma deny wrongdoing. Hain on Thursday asked Hammond also to ensure that Bank of Baroda is investigated by British financial watchdogs along with HSBC and Standard Chartered. In his initial letter to Hammond, dated September 25, Hain says it became clear to him that “this Gupta/Zuma criminal network is not localised to SA — indeed, it has been enabled by a transnational money-laundering network”. Explaining his reasons for asking for probes of HSBC and Standard Chartered, he says that the major...

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