India's Bank of Baroda to release bank details of Gupta brothers

The Bank of Baroda has reportedly agreed to share the bank details of the South African based Gupta family. 

The allegation is that much of the money in the accounts of the Gupta family was used for money laundering activities. 

Gupta linked companies are facing allegations of state capture and are accused of having looted 1.75 million rands. The Gupta's have denied all wrongdoing. 

Our India correspondent Neha Poonia reports.
 
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India's Bank of Baroda is at the centre of a massive corruption probe in South Africa. 

After four major South African banks closed the accounts of the Gupta family following allegations of money laundering, the Bank of Baroda was the last bank in the country that continued to work with the family.

Civil society organisations in South Africa have also accused the bank of being deeply involved in state capture. 

The Gupta brothers face allegations of laundering most of 1.75 billion rand of mine rehabilitation funds in their Bank of Baroda accounts and using South African state money to repay loans. The Gupta's have denied all wrongdoing. 

Now, facing the possibility of having its bank license revoked, the bank has agreed to disclose the financial accounts of the Gupta's.

In a statement issued through their lawyer, the bank has said:

'While we take our duties of banker-client confidentiality seriously, the requested records would provide evidence of a substantial contravention of or failure to comply with the law. 

The public interest in disclosure outweighs any harm of disclosure.'

Financial experts like Gaurang Shah say Bank of Baroda may have breached rules about having significant exposure to one or more clients and may have been aware of the fund mismanagement if an internal audit was ever carried.

<<Gaurang Shah, Financial Expert>>

'In case the documentation is not proper or if there is any mismanagement, that only comes to light when an internal audit takes place. And if there is something amiss then definitely there is a possibility that you may know of the mismanagement when you conduct the audit and undergo the scrutiny. And in terms of the impact, as far as this event is concerned, it will be restricted to this particular branch. 

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However, in the same statement from Bank of Baroda, it also states the Gupta family and their associates have until March 21 to launch legal action to keep their banking records secret- a period that is 30 days beyond the time stipulated as per the law.

The Bank has said this will give any third party enough time to intervene- leading to speculation as to whether or not Gupta's aides will file an injunction and prevent the details from going public. 

Bank of Baroda has maintained bank accounts of the Gupta family in its South Africa branch since 2005. 

It allegedly saw 36 suspicious transactions worth 4.25 billion rand linked to the Guptas between September 2016 and July 2017. 

Last year the treasurer general of the ruling ANC party in South Africa, Zweli Mkhize said they'd welcome this kind of investigation.

<<Zweli Mkhize - ANC Treasurer General>>

"If there's any information suggesting corruption or any irregularities it needs to be investigated across the borders, it does not need to be restricted to South Africa.

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The Guptas hail from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and moved to South Africa in 1993. 

The family is accused of holding enormous political influence with President Jacob Zuma- and using that clout to help their own business interests. 

South Africa's opposition party- the Democratic Alliance has also accused the Guptas of using their accounts with the Bank of Baroda to funnel South African public money out of the country- a charge that will be in the limelight when and if the account details are disclosed.

Neha Poonia, SABC News, New Delhi