Johannesburg - Sanjay Agarwal, the chief executive
officer of Bank of Baroda’s South African unit, has died.
Bank of Baroda provides banking services to companies
controlled by the Gupta family, who are in business with President Jacob Zuma’s
son. South Africa’s four largest banks last year cancelled accounts belonging
to the companies, saying in separate court documents that they terminated their
relationships with the Guptas because continuing to do business with them
risked hurting their reputations.
“The South African Reserve Bank is aware of the passing
away of Bank of Baroda CEO, Sanjay Agarwal, and conveys our sympathies to his
family and the staff of the bank,” the Pretoria-based regulator said in an
e-mailed response to questions on Thursday. It didn’t give further details. A
person who answered the phone at Bank of Baroda’s Johannesburg offices declined
to comment, referring queries to the corporate offices in Mumbai, where calls
to two separate numbers weren’t answered.
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The Gupta family have been accused of using their
friendship with the president to influence cabinet appointments. Zuma and the
Guptas deny any wrongdoing. After having their accounts canceled, the Guptas
asked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to intervene, spurring Gordhan to seek a
court order in October stating that he can’t prevent banks from cutting
clients. The lenders, including Standard Bank Group, Barclays Africa Group,
Nedbank Group and FirstRand, have said they need to adhere to international
banking rules on anti-money laundering, bribery and corruption when dealing
with customers.