The accountants who aided loot the Lottery
The accountants who aided loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Distinctive Investigating Device has discovered 5 accounting firms that served loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Particular Investigating Device has discovered five accounting and auditing corporations that served non-financial gain companies loot Lottery revenue meant for “fantastic leads to”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent economical statements utilized by these providers to submit an application for Lottery funding, the SIU explained to Parliament.
Performing Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe stated the SIU would take motion to own these corporations blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe via the หวย Distinctive Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered 5 accounting and auditing firms that served dodgy non-income organizations loot a huge selection of countless rands intended for “good leads to” with the Lottery.
These corporations had been explained by the SIU as “Specialist enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent economical statements” which were employed by the businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding.
The 5 companies were being named in Parliament with the SIU’s acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They may be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting companies served virtually 40 companies get their arms on lottery funding, in accordance with the SIU presentation.
Based on a tool that contains facts with all lottery grants considering the fact that 2002, these businesses received around R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs ended up funded by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) although the resources weren't applied for their intended reason,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Field and Competitors Portfolio Committee previous week.
The SIU, the Hawks and also the Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing people today and organisations involved with looting the lottery to ebook.
Xesibe instructed GroundUp that the SIU intended to lodge problems against the accounting corporations included and was checking if these corporations had been registered and, If that's so, with which Experienced bodies.
“We would like these providers to generally be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to make two years of yearly monetary statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.
On the other hand, as an ongoing six-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-income organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-financial gain providers (NPCs) without having economical observe information were utilized to submit an application for funding.
In some scenarios, Practically equivalent fiscal statements had been created for unrelated organisations, frequently with only the names of your organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.
Documents submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs were being normally used by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The main points and files of the unsuccessful applicants have been provided by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants were awarded millions of rands in grants. Occasionally additional tranches of resources ended up paid out with out much checking to the development of assignments.
The overwhelming majority of these grants ended up produced by means of proactive funding, which was at the heart on the looting of your lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Marketplace and Level of competition, or maybe the NLC together with its board, to establish causes to fund without very first requiring an software. This was stopped each time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was at the moment investigating grants valued at in excess of R2-billion, as well as the device was even now frequently acquiring tip-offs about a lot more corruption.
He told MPs the SIU’s investigation were broken into 3 phases: the main, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also concluded, associated R247-million. Inside the third stage, on account of be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Pretty much R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi explained.
He stated which the SIU would implement “soon” with the Presidential Proclamation, initially granted in Oct 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be extended to include procurement because of the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced so far resulted in 13 disciplinary referrals to your NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Attributes Fee to blacklist people implicated within the looting. Complaints involving two individuals had been referred to the Legal Follow Council along with the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed several trends underneath the past NLC board and government - many of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi told MPs.
This included a “craze of collusion in between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration from the acceptance of grants,” he mentioned.
Gradual development with the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, Qualities, automobiles and other assets well worth tens of thousands and thousands which were purchased with lottery money, but MPs expressed problem at slow development in prosecuting those involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get better property bought with stolen point out cash and does not have prosecuting powers).
Whilst the SIU has referred fifteen matters to the NPA, to this point only two individuals have been brought before a court docket. Two Adult men appeared in court in Kimberley a short while ago in connection with misappropriated cash collected for your undertaking to beat gender-primarily based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his aspect in a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Rates against two folks charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” while in the corruption that overcome the NLC, were being dropped.
Major-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, instructed MPs the Hawks were being currently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-linked scenarios. A different one particular - the Kimberley subject - is in advance of a courtroom and two have already been despatched on the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five instances are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic solutions, he reported.
Describing The explanations with the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock stated Component of The key reason why was which the Hawks needed to do further investigations once they obtained dossiers from your SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken from the SIU do not fulfill legal specifications for prosecutions.”
As a result, the NPA had to operate with investigators while in the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct prison investigations and be sure that the evidence satisfies felony prosecution expectations, he explained, including: “That said, the get the job done in the SIU is very important and contributes enormously to this process.”
De Kock claimed which the SIU’s investigation “usually ends in multiple referrals. The referrals may well ultimately lead to just one docket and 1 court situation.”
He explained that 12 matters, which might be “approximately eighty five% comprehensive”, have been becoming jointly investigated by the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Unit. (The majority of these conditions, seven of which were lodged in 2020, contain former NLC Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock claimed the NPA faced quite a few “worries” in prosecuting situations. These, he said, provided
the lapse of your time between once the offences ended up fully commited along with the issuing of the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Before this year, the SIU instructed the committee that critical files wanted in certain prosecutions were deleted within the NLC Laptop or computer procedure or experienced absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse where by copies of paperwork are archived and saved);
the fact that some implicated people remain utilized by NLC; and
A challenge to the legality of the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is committed to guaranteeing finalisation in these issues. To this end, a workforce of dedicated prosecutors continues to be allocated to supervise all NLC issues presently underneath investigation,” de Kock said. “Matters are managed to be a priority. As soon as [the] investigations are done, the NPA will make a call.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only ready to get remark from one of the 5 corporations accused because of the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year economical statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two administrators, stated within an email in response to concerns: “As a consequence of customer confidentiality, we want to suggest that TTP Consulting is not ready to disclose clients’ economic private information and facts with the public or media … with no consent from the consumer or simply a legal cause.”
The corporation is actually a “associate” of quite a few point out entities, which include SARS and the CIPC, In line with its Internet site.
Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who will be both listed as inactive around the CIPC sign up of organizations, responded to emailed questions. The corporation has actually been deregistered from the CIPC for failing to post economical statements considering that 2021.
The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs back, Based on official data. The corporate was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit economic statements considering the fact that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only real director of Magodi Consultants, didn't respond to inquiries emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to locate any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services Along with the CIPC. We have been also unable to trace any of the corporate’s directors to request comment.