HSBC one of Britain's biggest banks has been accused by a British peer of complicity in a US$500 million money-laundering scheme organised by businesses controlled by the Gupta family close allies of President Jacob Zuma...
He called on Hammond to ensure HSBC's ties with the Guptas were cut urgently prior to a criminal investigation...
'This information shows illegal transfers of funds from South Africa made by the Gupta family over the last few years from their South African bank accounts held with a British bank to accounts held with the same bank in Dubai and Hong Kong ' Hain told the Lords...
Hain said he had been 'stunned' by the extent of the Guptas' money-laundering and their 'facilitation of a transnational financial crime network'...
New information indicated that the Guptas had shifted the focus of money-laundering to the metal-recycling sector said Hain citing the same whistle-blowers in South Africa...
During question time in the Lords last month Hain disclosed that the Chancellor had agreed to launch an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and other law enforcement agencies to establish whether the British banks HSBC and Standard Chartered and India's Bank of Baroda had been involved in money-laundering linked to the Guptas' network...
By the end of last year all of South Africa's banks were refusing to operate accounts for the Guptas' companies...
Hain is handing over several documents about the Guptas' financial transitions to the regulatory authorities in the United States and the European Union...
British public relations company Bell Pottinger was forced to close after it admitted working with the Guptas on a racially-charged political campaign...
Although the British-based KPMG auditors and the US's McKinsey Consulting have made qualified apologies for their operations with the Guptas the reputational damage continues with both companies likely to be embroiled in protracted lawsuits...
Last week Hain produced a list of 27 names (along with their bank account details and identity numbers) to be investigated as part of Gupta-gate: it included President Zuma ten members of his family the three Gupta brothers and eight members of their family...
Now many of the cases involving Zuma's business allies the Guptas are likely to be heard outside the country...