The Specific Investigating Unit has discovered five accounting companies that served loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Particular Investigating Device has determined 5 accounting and auditing firms that assisted non-earnings corporations loot Lottery revenue supposed for “good triggers”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent fiscal statements utilized by these corporations to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Performing Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe explained the SIU would get motion to own these firms blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe through the ตรวจ หวย ลาว Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing corporations that assisted dodgy non-gain organizations loot many hundreds of millions of rands intended for “superior brings about” within the Lottery.
These corporations have been explained from the SIU as “Specialist enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” which were utilized by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.
The 5 providers were named in Parliament by the SIU’s performing chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They can be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies.
Fraudulent financials produced by these five accounting corporations aided almost forty companies get their palms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
Determined by a Software that contains details with all lottery grants given that 2002, these companies received about R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs were funded from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) however the funds were not used for his or her meant function,” Xesibe advised Parliament’s Trade, Field and Competitors Portfolio Committee last 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks as well as National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had been in Parliament to report back to the committee on progress in bringing individuals and organisations involved in looting the lottery to reserve.
Xesibe told GroundUp which the SIU intended to lodge complaints from the accounting firms involved and was examining if these firms ended up registered and, If that is so, with which Skilled bodies.
“We want these corporations to become blacklisted,” she instructed GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to make two a long time of yearly economic statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.
Having said that, as an ongoing six-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has revealed, hijacked non-gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-profit corporations (NPCs) without money observe information were being accustomed to submit an application for funding.
In a few situations, Pretty much identical money statements ended up manufactured for unrelated organisations, usually with only the names on the organisations altered, GroundUp’s investigation uncovered.
Files submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications had been usually utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The details and files with the unsuccessful applicants have been supplied by senior Lottery officers to your dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants were being awarded countless rands in grants. Often added tranches of cash were being paid out out with no Considerably examining within the development of assignments.
The overwhelming majority of these grants ended up created by way of proactive funding, which was at the center from the looting on the lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Sector and Opposition, or maybe the NLC at the side of its board, to detect causes to fund without the need of to start with necessitating an application. This was stopped when a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was at present investigating grants valued at more than R2-billion, as well as unit was continue to consistently receiving idea-offs about more corruption.
He informed MPs the SIU’s investigation had been broken into three phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also completed, involved R247-million. Inside the third period, resulting from be finalised at the end of the year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Nearly R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi said.
He said the SIU would implement “quickly” to the Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in Oct 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be extended to incorporate procurement with the NLC.
The SIU investigation had thus far led to thirteen disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Intellectual Attributes Commission to blacklist men and women implicated in the looting. Issues involving two people today were referred to the Legal Observe Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced noticed several trends under the earlier NLC board and government - a lot of whom are already implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.
This provided a “pattern of collusion amongst NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “typical maladministration inside the acceptance of grants,” he explained.
Slow development with the NPA
The SIU has frozen homes, Houses, vehicles and other property worth tens of hundreds of thousands that were purchased with lottery money, but MPs expressed problem at sluggish development in prosecuting These associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get better belongings bought with stolen point out resources and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
When the SIU has referred fifteen matters for the NPA, up to now only two folks have been brought just before a court docket. Two Adult men appeared in court in Kimberley a short while ago in connection with misappropriated cash gathered for the venture to battle gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight yrs in prison for his part in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Charges in opposition to two people today billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” while in the corruption that confused the NLC, had been dropped.
Big-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, explained to MPs that the Hawks had been at the moment investigating sixteen lottery corruption-related circumstances. A different a person - the Kimberley matter - is just before a court and two are actually despatched for the NPA for a call to prosecute. An additional 5 conditions are now being investigated via the SAPS detective and forensic expert services, he mentioned.
Conveying the reasons for your delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock said Section of The key reason why was that the Hawks had to do even more investigations every time they obtained dossiers through the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out with the SIU tend not to fulfill legal specifications for prosecutions.”
As a result, the NPA experienced to operate with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and ensure that the proof meets felony prosecution requirements, he said, incorporating: “Having said that, the operate from the SIU is crucial and contributes drastically to this method.”
De Kock mentioned the SIU’s investigation “often leads to a number of referrals. The referrals may eventually end in one docket and 1 court circumstance.”
He reported that twelve issues, which are “around 85% complete”, had been getting jointly investigated through the Hawks as well as the SIU’s Specialised Economic Operations Device. (These types of situations, 7 of which ended up lodged in 2020, include previous NLC chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned below a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria law firm Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock explained the NPA confronted many “problems” in prosecuting cases. These, he claimed, included
the lapse of time concerning when the offences ended up fully commited and also the issuing on the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Previously this 12 months, the SIU explained to the committee that vital files desired in certain prosecutions were deleted with the NLC computer method or had gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse the place copies of documents are archived and saved);
The truth that some implicated people remain employed by NLC; and
A problem to your legality from the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to guaranteeing finalisation in these issues. To this end, a crew of committed prosecutors has been allocated to oversee all NLC matters at the moment underneath investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are managed for a precedence. After [the] investigations are concluded, the NPA is likely to make a call.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only ready to get remark from on the list of 5 organizations accused from the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent yearly financial statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two directors, said within an electronic mail in response to thoughts: “Due to customer confidentiality, we desire to suggest that TTP Consulting isn't ready to disclose clients’ economic confidential details with the general public or media … without the consent with the customer or a legal purpose.”
The corporate is often a “lover” of quite a few point out entities, which include SARS as well as CIPC, according to its website.
Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who will be both equally detailed as inactive within the CIPC sign up of corporations, responded to emailed inquiries. The business continues to be deregistered by the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements considering that 2021.
The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died a few a long time back, In accordance with official documents. The organization was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post financial statements given that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not respond to concerns emailed to him.
GroundUp was struggling to obtain any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions Using the CIPC. We had been also unable to trace any of the corporation’s administrators to request comment.