The Bank of China is the latest bank to close the Gupta's accounts due to "perceived political risk", according to a report in Business Day on Friday. The paper reported that the accounts were closed just three weeks after being opened, specifically due to the Guptas being shareholders in steel maker, VR Laser, which supplies steel to state arms manufacturer, Denel.
According to the report, the information is contained in court papers filed in the high court in Pretoria, where VR Laser claims the Bank of China wanted the Guptas excluded as shareholders of the steel maker.
Standard Bank and Nedbank also closed the accounts. VR Laser chief executive Pieter van der Merwe reportedly told the court that he was told by a bank official at Nedbank that the accounts were closed due to the reputational risk to the bank of being associated with the Guptas.
Business Day said that on September 27 last year, VR Laser transferred R500 000 from its Standard Bank account, which had been closed, to the Bank of China. The bank then wanted to know where the funds came from.
In an email exchange that followed, Van der Merwe reportedly told the bank that VR Laser generated between R15-million and R25-million a month. He requested a meeting with the bank, but the next day was told the accounts were closed "in terms of the bank's internal rules and risk appetite," according to Business Day.
Reportedly, both the Bank of China and Standard Bank said they would do business with VR Laser were it not for the Gupta shareholding.