The Exclusive Investigating Device has discovered 5 accounting companies that helped loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Exclusive Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting and auditing firms that aided non-income businesses loot Lottery revenue intended for “superior leads to”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent fiscal statements employed by these corporations to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU advised Parliament.
Acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe reported the SIU would choose action to have these firms blacklisted.
A four-year probe with the ตรวจ สลาก Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing companies that served dodgy non-income organizations loot hundreds of numerous rands intended for “excellent causes” with the Lottery.
These companies were described because of the SIU as “Expert enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent financial statements” that were utilized by the businesses to apply for Lottery funding.
The 5 businesses had been named in Parliament through the SIU’s acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers.
Fraudulent financials produced by these 5 accounting corporations aided virtually 40 companies get their palms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
Based on a Resource that contains data with all lottery grants since 2002, these corporations acquired more than R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs were being funded from the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) nevertheless the resources were not applied for his or her supposed objective,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Field and Competitiveness Portfolio Committee past week.
The SIU, the Hawks plus the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report back to the committee on progress in bringing people and organisations involved with looting the lottery to ebook.
Xesibe advised GroundUp that the SIU meant to lodge complaints from the accounting firms concerned and was examining if these firms ended up registered and, If that's the case, with which Experienced bodies.
“We want these corporations to become blacklisted,” she explained to GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to make two a long time of yearly economical statements, Xesibe defined in Parliament.
Even so, as an ongoing 6-calendar year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has unveiled, hijacked non-gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-profit businesses (NPCs) with no economical monitor documents have been accustomed to submit an application for funding.
In some cases, almost similar fiscal statements ended up manufactured for unrelated organisations, often with just the names of your organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation found.
Documents submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications were normally employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The details and files of the unsuccessful applicants had been supplied by senior Lottery officers to your dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - typically - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded countless rands in grants. In some cases added tranches of resources were paid out out without the need of Considerably examining within the development of assignments.
The overwhelming majority of these grants ended up made through proactive funding, which was at the center on the looting of your lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Field and Competitiveness, or perhaps the NLC along side its board, to detect will cause to fund with no to start with necessitating an application. This was stopped any time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants less than investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was at the moment investigating grants valued at more than R2-billion, and the unit was continue to on a regular basis acquiring tip-offs about far more corruption.
He informed MPs the SIU’s investigation were damaged into a few phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also concluded, associated R247-million. Within the third phase, as a result of be finalised at the end of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Practically R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi mentioned.
He mentioned that the SIU would utilize “shortly” to the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, being prolonged to include procurement through the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced thus far resulted in thirteen disciplinary referrals for the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Intellectual Qualities Fee to blacklist people implicated from the looting. Complaints involving two persons were referred towards the Authorized Exercise Council and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced observed several developments under the prior NLC board and executive - most of whom have already been implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.
This involved a “development of collusion concerning NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “standard maladministration inside the approval of grants,” he reported.
Sluggish development with the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Attributes, vehicles as well as other property worthy of tens of hundreds of thousands that were purchased with lottery resources, but MPs expressed concern at slow progress in prosecuting People involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property purchased with stolen condition cash and does not have prosecuting powers).
Even though the SIU has referred 15 matters to the NPA, up to now only two people have been introduced in advance of a courtroom. Two Gentlemen appeared in court in Kimberley lately in reference to misappropriated money gathered for the undertaking to combat gender-based mostly violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight yrs in prison for his aspect inside a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Rates towards two people today billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” within the corruption that overcome the NLC, were being dropped.
Significant-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, advised MPs the Hawks were being currently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-similar conditions. An additional 1 - the Kimberley make a difference - is right before a courtroom and two have already been despatched to your NPA for a choice to prosecute. A further 5 circumstances are being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he reported.
Describing the reasons with the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Nationwide Director Rodney de Kock reported Element of The rationale was which the Hawks had to do further more investigations once they gained dossiers within the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out by the SIU don't satisfy felony specifications for prosecutions.”
Hence, the NPA experienced to operate with investigators from the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct prison investigations and make sure that the proof fulfills criminal prosecution standards, he stated, introducing: “Having said that, the function of your SIU is important and contributes drastically to this process.”
De Kock claimed that the SIU’s investigation “frequently ends in numerous referrals. The referrals may possibly ultimately end in one docket and one particular courtroom scenario.”
He reported that twelve matters, which happen to be “roughly 85% full”, were being staying jointly investigated by the Hawks as well as the SIU’s Specialised Economic Operations Unit. (Many of these situations, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, contain previous NLC Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned less than a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock mentioned the NPA confronted many “troubles” in prosecuting circumstances. These, he said, involved
the lapse of time involving once the offences ended up fully commited and also the issuing in the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this yr, the SIU instructed the committee that vital documents essential in certain prosecutions were deleted from the NLC Computer system procedure or experienced absent missing from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of files are archived and stored);
The truth that some implicated people remain employed by NLC; and
A problem on the legality from the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to making sure finalisation in these matters. To this conclusion, a team of committed prosecutors is allotted to supervise all NLC issues at the moment below investigation,” de Kock stated. “Matters are dealt with as a priority. When [the] investigations are concluded, the NPA could make a call.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from one of several five businesses accused from the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent once-a-year economical statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two administrators, mentioned within an e-mail in response to questions: “Due to shopper confidentiality, we would like to recommend that TTP Consulting is just not prepared to divulge purchasers’ economic private data with the general public or media … with no consent from the consumer or maybe a lawful purpose.”
The business is often a “husband or wife” of several point out entities, together with SARS and also the CIPC, In line with its Internet site.
Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who are each outlined as inactive on the CIPC sign-up of organizations, responded to emailed queries. The organization is deregistered by the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements given that 2021.
The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Services, Patrick Zulu, died 3 years ago, In line with Formal documents. The company was deregistered by the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements given that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to issues emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services While using the CIPC. We ended up also unable to trace any of the company’s directors to request comment.