The Gupta-related developments in South Africa will be watched closely around the world particularly in London where a number of businesses have been accused of aiding or enabling state capture.
Veteran anti-apartheid activist, Lord Peter Hain, who sits in the UK parliament has been making accusations against a number of companies.
Just this week, activist and former government minister in the UK, Hain named international law firm Hogan Lovells as the latest business to be embroiled in allegations of corruption. He accused the law firm of producing a white wash report when asked to investigate alleged wrongdoing at SARS.
Hogan Lovells strongly denies these allegations and insisted it would help with an inquiry. In speaking about this, this week, Lord Hain mentioned other companies that he has pointed the finger at in the past.
“Hogan Lovells are doing even as I speak, exactly what Bell Pottinger did last year, what KPMG did last year, what McKinsey did last year, and the rest of them, they deny, then as the pressure increases they are forced to apologize, why not get the denial out of the way now,” said Hain.
Lord Hain mentions a couple of companies, the UK headquartered PR firm Bell Pottinger which went bankrupt as a consequence of its campaign to sew racial animosity in the country including the creation of fake news to benefit its client Oakbay investments controlled by the Gupta family.
The firm initially claimed the allegations against them were part of a smear campaign. An investigation by law firm Herbert Smith Freeholds found Bell Pottinger had breached ethical standards and had brought the PR industry into disrepute.
The dutch headquartered KPMG, a professional services company and auditor along with the German software maker SAP, all apologized last year after their work with Gupta-linked companies came to light in leaked emails.
Meanwhile UK headquartered banks HSBC and Standard Chartered are under investigation here in the UK.
The Financial Conduct authority is investigating whether they’re facilitating money laundering as a result of their ties to the Gupta family. These were allegations again raised by Lord Peter Hain who says he is determined to route out those UK businesses that may have aided and abetted the Gupta family in any corruption.
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