Mahatma Gandhi’s Great-Granddaughter Sentenced to Jail for Fraud

Ashish Lata Ramgobin, great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, was sentenced to a seven-year jail term on 7 June.

(Photo: Twitter/ Nishant Azad)

Ashish Lata Ramgobin, great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, was sentenced to a seven-year jail term on 7 June, Monday, by a Durban court in South Africa.

According to a PTI report, Ramgobin, 56, has been found guilty for committing a fraud of 6.2 million rand.

Lata Ramgobin is the daughter of the eminent activists Ela Gandhi and late Mewa Ramgobin.

What Was the Case?

Lata Ramgobin had allegedly scammed businessman SR Maharaj by procuring the amount of 6.2 million rand from him, on the pretext of paying off the custom duties for a bogus consignment from India.

The legal trial for the case had begun in 2015. At that time, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had said that Ramgobin had furnished forged invoices and documents in order to assure potential investors, including Maharaj, that three batches of linen were being imported from India.

At that time, Lata Ramgobin had been let out on a bail of 50,000 rand.

Maharaj's company, New Africa Alliance Footwear Distributors trades in clothing, linen and footwear. The company also supplies capital other companies on a profit-share basis.

Ramgobin had allegedly met with Maharaj in August 2015, when she had implemented the ploy.

“She said she was experiencing financial difficulties to pay for import costs and customs and she needed the money to clear the goods at the harbour,” NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara said during Monday's trial, as per a PTI report.

In order to extract money from Maharaj, Ramgobin had reportedly shown him a forged purchase order for the shipment, which was to be delivered to South African Hospital Group NetCare.

Later, she had sent the businessman a fraudulent invoice and delivery note that confirmed the delivery of the consignment. The accused had also sent him a confirmation from NetCare's bank account claiming that the payment had been made.

The businessman had filed for a lawsuit against Ramgobin when he discovered that NetCare had made no deal with the latter, and that the documents presented to him had been forged.

The felon has been denied leave to appeal both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

Who Is Ashish Lata Ramgobin?

Lata Ramgobin had served as the Director of the Participative Development Initiative at the NGO International Centre for Non-Violence, which she had founded. She is involved in environmental, societal, and political activism.

Ramgobin is the daughter of the renowned Ela Gandhi, peace activist and Member of Parliament of South Africa. Ela Gandhi is the granddaughter of freedom fighter and satyagrahi Mahatma Gandhi.

Ramgobin's father Mewa Ramgobin had been a Gandhian activist who had fought against the discrimination suffered by Indians in South Africa.

(With inputs from PTI)