It’s not clear what the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s next move will be after suffering a blow in the Bloemfontein High Court in its preservation order application to freeze Atul Gupta‘s assets and the companies linked to him.
The NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) had in January applied to preserve the Guptas assets which it alleged were proceeds of crime.
But Judge Fouche Jordaan said the court found the NPA arguments unconvincing.
The court reduced the preservation order from R220 million to R40 million worth of money and assets.
NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping says the ruling is shocking.
“We are disappointed. At least R220 million is the money we were looking. We are not happy that R40 million has been preserved. Look, we are not satisfied but when you look at the fact that for the judge is agreeing with us that R40 million of that money is the proceed’s of crime, he preserved that amount, that the money could have ended up into accounts of wrong people that have nothing to do with the money,” explains Shuping.
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