Indian lender Bank of Baroda has criticized the freezing of some of its funds in South Africa amid allegations that it has helped transfer money intended for a government-owned dairy farm in the African nation to the controversial Gupta family and its associates, Bloomberg News reported.
The bank's legal representative, Luke Spiller, told the Free State province's High Court in Bloemfontein that the 30 million South African rand preservation order is wrong since the money due to customers had already been withdrawn and that the attachment of a similar amount of the bank's own funds is "unsustainable," according to the report.
The High Court in January permitted the National Prosecuting Authority to freeze assets related to the development of the state-owned dairy farm in Free State after grants worth more than 220 million rand were allegedly transferred to Atul Gupta and other associates of the Gupta family, the newswire reported.
Meanwhile, Michael Hellens, a lawyer for Gupta-affiliated companies, told the court that the chief prosecutor was unable to provide evidence of the controversial transfer of funds, Bloomberg said.
In February, Bank of Baroda said it will exit from its operations in South Africa amid a probe by local regulators into the bank's dealings with the Gupta family.
As of Feb. 28, US$1 was equivalent to 11.77 South African rand.
