OTTAWA: Canada’s export agency was aware of allegations against South Africa’s controversial Gupta family for the past five years, yet it went ahead with a US$41-million loan to the Guptas anyway, a lawyer for the family says.
The federal Crown corporation, Export Development Canada, is trying to ground a Bombardier luxury jet that the Guptas acquired with the help of EDC financing in 2015, but it faced fierce opposition from Gupta lawyers in a Johannesburg court on Friday.
The Guptas, business tycoons who built a sprawling empire in South Africa after befriending the family of former president Jacob Zuma, have fled the country after criminal cases were opened against them for defrauding a farm project. Their links to Mr. Zuma have led to a judicial inquiry into state corruption.
The Guptas have refused to give up their Bombardier jet, even switching off its tracking device to hide its movements, and EDC says it has no idea of the plane’s location. The jet has reportedly flown between Dubai, India and Russia over the past several weeks.
He noted media reports that EDC has loaned money to a number of clients who have been embroiled in corruption scandals. Its reputation is already “in tatters,” he told the court.
The federal agency’s attempt to repossess the airplane was “a face-saving exercise,” he said. “This urgent application is too little, too late to salvage its rather shaky reputation.”
