Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance will write to the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Urjit Patel, in terms of Section 36 of the Banking Regulation Act of India, to report the wealthy, politically connected Gupta family's accounts with the Bank of Baroda.
Section 36 states that the Reserve Bank of India has the power to “caution or prohibit banking companies or any banking company in particular against entering into any particular transaction”, DA spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone said on Sunday.
"Recent evidence produced at parliament’s inquiry into state capture at state-owned entities, findings in the public protector's 'State of Capture' report, and the Bank of Baroda’s own attempts to close the Guptas’ accounts after citing the reputational risk of being associated with the Guptas’ companies, is enough reason for the RBI to prohibit any further transactions between Baroda and the Guptas," she said.
The DA believed that the Gupta family could be using their accounts with the Bank of Baroda to funnel South African public money out of the country.
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"The Guptas are at the centre of state capture and have allegedly used their close ties to President Jacob Zuma to raid our state coffers for their own personal financial benefit.
"The DA will therefore request that the Reserve Bank of India urgently prohibit the Bank of Baroda from entering into any further transactions with the Guptas, as the money the Gupta family is transferring into their Bank of Baroda accounts was possibly obtained through illegal means," Mazzone said.