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At least one of the Gupta brothers is set to appear in the Commercial Crimes Court in Bloemfontein later today.
City Press was told by a senior source within the security cluster that the unnamed Gupta brother will be appearing in court alongside former Free State agriculture department head Peter Thabethe.
The charges are likely to be fraud, corruption and money laundering.
READ: Former free state agriculture head Peter Thabethe arrested
City Press was also told that if the Hawks managed to arrest the other Gupta brother and President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane this morning, then they would also appear in the dock alongside them.
City Press was told that the state would be opposing bail for the Gupta brothers. They were deemed to be a flight risk because they owned property in the United Arab Emirates, with which South Africa has no extradition treaty.
However, the state would not, the source said, be opposing bail for Duduzane Zuma and Thabethe.
City Press understood that they would be driven to Bloemfontein to appear in court.
READ: Guptas, Duduzane Zuma face arrest today
The charges related to the failed Vrede Dairy Farm owned by Gupta-linked company Estina.
However, there was no word yet as to any impending arrest of Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who was the Free State MEC for agriculture at the time and who pushed for the dairy project to go ahead. City Press was told that Zwane would not be arrested today. However, sources have told City Press for the past two weeks that Zwane was on the list of people to be arrested in connection with the case.
READ: Inside the Gupta heist
The Guptas, through their companies, managed to syphon off more than R200 million from the dairy project that was established under the province’s Zero Hunger campaign, which was meant to help poor emerging farmers.
