Arresting Guptas won’t be easy despite Interpol red notice - ISS
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says arresting some members of the Gupta family won’t be an easy feat, despite the red notices issued by Interpol.
Atul and Rajesh Gupta are wanted men and so are their wives and four others.
They are wanted in relation to procurement fraud involving R24.9 million paid between November 2011 and April 2012 by the Free State Department of Agriculture to Nulane Investment.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) applied for assistance from Interpol at least a month ago.
Head of Justice and Violence Prevention at ISS Gareth Newham says the red notices will only be effective if there’s cooperation from all 194 member states.
“There’s various ways that they may be arrested - it might be that they are flying internationally and they arrive at an entry like at an airport at a country and their passports flag a message to the police there that they’re wanted as per a red flag notice and the police will arrest them at that port of entry,” Newham explains.
“Alternatively, it might come to the attention of police in a particular country that a red notice against these specific people and they know where they are and they will be expected to go and arrest them and hold them until they can be extradited.
“How they do that may vary from situation to situation, depending on how determined the fugitive is in getting away from the law.”
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Newham adds it’s difficult to put a timeline on the arrests.
“We can’t really be sure. We’re not exactly aware of where all the fugitives are, which country they are and the extent the country they are in is willing to assist.
“It might be that there’s an official agreement but some countries are a lot more eager to assist than others so we don’t know how long it will take to arrest them, if they will be arrested.”
Local authorities believe they have made headway in holding the Gupta brothers and their associates to account for alleged massive looting.
Listen to Newham below:
