Treasury Sanctions South African Corruption Network
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four people involved in a South African corruption network, Treasury said in an Oct. 10 press release. The network “leveraged overpayments on government contracts, bribery, and other corrupt acts” to fund political payments to control government actions, Treasury said. The measures include sanctions on Ajay Gupta, Atul Gupta, Rajesh Gupta and Salim Essa.
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The Gupta family had been involved in several corruption schemes in South Africa, stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through “illegal deals” with the government, the press release said. The deals often benefited the family’s business interests, Treasury said. Essa, a business associate of the family, helped with their schemes, according to Treasury.
In the same notice, Treasury also updated existing entries on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List for Iran-based Bahman Group and United Arab Emirates-based Kambiz Rostamian.