South Africa said on Friday it had learned with “shock and dismay” that the United Arab Emirates had turned down its request to extradite two brothers accused of orchestrating industrial-scale corruption. The justice minister, Ronald Lamola, bluntly accused the UAE of “non-cooperation” after being informed late on Thursday of a court ruling against extraditing the tycoons Atul and Rajesh Gupta. The two Guptas along with a third brother, Ajay, built a sprawling business empire in South Africa over two decades after migrating from India. Investigators say they colluded with the former president Jacob Zuma to siphon off state assets under a system that, according to one estimate, cost the country several billion dollars. They fled in 2018 as pressure over the scandal began to mount. Last year South Africa and the UAE signed an extradition treaty, and in July South Africa applied for Atul and Rajesh Gupta to be handed over after the pair were arrested in Dubai.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN