Oakbay Resources confirms five transactions in Gordhan affidavit

17 October 2016 - 17:08 By Robert Laing

Gupta family-controlled Oakbay Resources and Energy issued a statement on Monday confirming that five of the 72 suspicious transactions listed in an affidavit by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan were done by the JSE-listed holding company or its subsidiary‚ Shiva Uranium. The transactions were listed in an attachment supplied by the Financial Intelligence Centre. Oakbay Resources and Energy appeared in the list twice and its subsidiary Shiva Uranium four times. Litany of letters: How Oakbay begged Gordhan to lobby 'intransigent' banksAn exchange of letters that spanned four months shows the lengths to which Oakbay Investments went to persuade Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to lobby “intransigent” banks on their behalf. The 65th transaction involving R327.4m was attributed to Oakbay Resources and Energy and the 66th‚ also for R327.4m‚ to Shiva. The JSE-listed holding company appears to be counting these as the same transaction. The largest transaction involving the listed company via its subsidiary Shiva was for R510m‚ labelled item 71. Billions were transferred from Optimum and Koornfontein collieries which the Gupta family own via a holding company called Tegeta which Oakbay Resources and Energy said is a separate entity. "The company is in the process of investigating the five transactions referred to above‚ and is working with regulatory authorities‚ where necessary‚ in this regard‚" Oakbay Resources and Energy said in Monday’s statement. "The company is also in the process of engaging with its external auditors with regard to the aforementioned five transactions and any possible impact that may result in relation to previously reported financial information. "At this stage‚ the company does not have any reason to believe that previously reported financial information will be restated in relation to these five transactions‚ and shareholders will be updated accordingly in this regard‚" Oakbay Resources said...

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