Gupta bodyguards: we saw boxes of money - report

29 April 2016 - 12:33 By TMG Digital
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Bodyguards who worked for the Gupta family claim that the family patriarch visited "Number One" up to three times a week.

Ajay Gupta. File photo.
Ajay Gupta. File photo.
Image: Martin Rhodes

Speaking anonymously‚ three former guards claimed in an interview with the Mail & Guardian newspaper that they handled boxes and tog bags filled with cash while working punishing 18-hour shifts for the family.

Those assigned to drive around Ajay Gupta‚ known as the "A Team"‚ said that he "sometimes slip the guys a hundred bucks for food".

They described having to wait in a parked car while Ajay visited President Jacob Zuma‚ at the presidential guest house in Pretoria.

The newspaper reported on Friday that Zuma's spokesman‚ Bongani Majola‚ denied that the family had visited the presidential guest house.

The family did not respond to questions sent by the newspaper.

The guards also claimed to have seen large sums of money at the Saxonwold Drive residence and businesses owned by the family.

“We were at Sahara the one day and this guy comes to collect a parcel. The tog bag was so packed with money‚ it wouldn’t close. We had to help him close it with cable ties‚” said one of the guards.

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