Mahatma Ghandhi’s great-granddaughter has been jailed for fraud by a South African High Court.
Ashish Lata Ramgobin was found guilty in a six-million rand (over $442,000) fraud and forgery case, and subsequently sentenced to 7 years in jail by a Durban court.
The case dates back to 2015 when Ramgobin was first accused of defrauding businessman SR Maharaj.
She is said to have received an advance of R6.2 million for allegedly clearing import and customs duties for a consignment from India that did not exist in reality.
The Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court also refused leave to appeal both conviction and sentence.
An official of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said during the trial that Ramgobin provided forged documents and invoices to convince Maharaj that she had imported three containers of linen from India.
Lata Ramgobin is the daughter of Ela Gandhi. Ela Gandhi is the daughter of Manilal Gandhi, the second son of Mohandas Gandhi. Ela Gandhi is a known social activist in South Africa and was also a member of the South African Parliament.
Notably, many members of the ‘real’ Gandhi family, that is, the descendants of Mahatma Gandhi, are human rights activists, including Kirti Menon, the late Satish Dhupelia, Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrie, Ela Gandhi and Lata Ramgobin herself.
She was the founder and executive director of the Participative Development Initiative at the NGO named International Centre for Non-Violence.
