DURBAN - AN upmarket Gupta-owned beachfront home in uMhlanga could be among the assets to be seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU).
This, says the AFU, is to recoup almost R250million which went missing from the Vrede Dairy Project in the Free State.
Earlier this week a team comprising the AFU, SA Revenue Services, the Hawks and South African Police Service raided the Guptas’ luxury Saxonwold compound in Johannesburg, armed with a restraint order to seize the family’s multimillion-rand assets.
These include luxury cars, two aircraft, a helicopter, farms, bank accounts and bank accounts belonging to certain Gupta-owned entities, such as Oakbay Investments, Islandsite Investments One Hundred and Eighty, Confidents Concept, Sahara Computers, Westdawn Investments and Aerohaven Trading.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said only the curator of the court order could confirm if the Guptas’ Durban property was among the properties on the order.
“We cannot jump on to say the property will be seized without confirming with the curator’s list. The list is quite long. It’s hard to confirm or deny if the mansion in question appears there.”
However, a source in the AFU confirmed that the property at 8 Trevor Place, La Lucia, is on the list.
The home was bought in 2005 for R5.3m by Islandsite Investments One Hundred and Eighty.
In 2011, the house was bonded for R16m by the Bank of Baroda, one of the banks used by the Gupta family.
Ward councillor Heinz de Boer said: “There is no sign that any of the Guptas have stayed in the house. They might own the house, but they have never lived there.”