Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter Ashish Lata Ramgobin has been accused of defrauding two businessmen in South Africa.
She is alleged to have defrauded two local businessmen of more than 11 million rands (USD 831,380) by claiming that she had secured a tender to import bedding from India for the private hospital group Netcare.
According to Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi of the elite fraud investigation unit known as the Hawks, Ramgobin allegedly provided forged invoices and documents to convince the investors that three containers of linen were being shipped in from India.
A businessman named as S R Maharaj is said to have provided 6.2 million rands with a promise of a share of large profits after Ramgobin’s request, allegedly to clear import and customs duties for the non-existent consignment.
Another businessman allegedly advanced 5.2 million rands under similar pretences. Ramgobin is the daughter of renowned human rights activist Ela Gandhi and Mewa Ramgobind, who have both played instrumental roles in reviving the Phoenix Settlement established by Gandhi during his tenure in South Africa.
Ramgobin is a founder and Executive Director of the Participative Development Initiative at the NGO International Centre for Non-Violence in South Africa.