The Special Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting companies that assisted loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Distinctive Investigating Device has identified 5 accounting and auditing companies that served non-gain corporations loot Lottery dollars meant for “great brings about”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent fiscal statements utilized by these businesses to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU instructed Parliament.
Acting chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe stated the SIU would take action to get these firms blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe from the หวย วัน นี้ Specific Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing corporations that helped dodgy non-profit corporations loot a huge selection of millions of rands intended for “great leads to” from the Lottery.
These corporations were explained with the SIU as “Qualified enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent economical statements” which were used by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.
The five companies ended up named in Parliament via 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 Products and services.
Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting firms helped nearly forty corporations get their hands on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.
Dependant on a Instrument that contains info with all lottery grants given that 2002, these corporations got in excess of R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs were being funded through the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) nevertheless the money were not utilised for their intended intent,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Market and Opposition Portfolio Committee past 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks along with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) ended up in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing individuals and organisations involved with looting the lottery to reserve.
Xesibe told GroundUp that the SIU intended to lodge issues versus the accounting corporations associated and was examining if these corporations were being registered and, if so, with which Skilled bodies.
“We want these firms to generally be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to deliver two years of annual economic statements, Xesibe spelled out in Parliament.
However, being an ongoing 6-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has unveiled, hijacked non-financial gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income firms (NPCs) without any financial observe information were being used to submit an application for funding.
In a few situations, Nearly equivalent fiscal statements had been generated for unrelated organisations, frequently with only the names on the organisations changed, GroundUp’s investigation identified.
Files submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications had been generally employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The details and files of the unsuccessful applicants have been provided by senior Lottery officials to the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded a lot of rands in grants. From time to time supplemental tranches of funds had been compensated out without A great deal checking about the development of initiatives.
The vast majority of such grants were made through proactive funding, which was at the guts in the looting with the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Industry and Level of competition, or the NLC together with its board, to discover will cause to fund without first requiring an application. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants beneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi mentioned the SIU was at present investigating grants valued at over R2-billion, as well as device was however often receiving suggestion-offs about much more corruption.
He told MPs that the SIU’s investigation were broken into three phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also done, associated R247-million. During the 3rd phase, resulting from be finalised at the end of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Just about R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi explained.
He claimed the SIU would use “soon” for the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, being extended to incorporate procurement with the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced up to now brought about thirteen disciplinary referrals for the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Intellectual Qualities Commission to blacklist people today implicated within the looting. Complaints involving two folks had been referred on the Authorized Follow Council as well as SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced observed many developments under the prior NLC board and govt - lots of whom are implicated in looting - Mothibi instructed MPs.
This provided a “trend of collusion concerning NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “normal maladministration inside the acceptance of grants,” he reported.
Sluggish development via the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Homes, automobiles as well as other assets value tens of millions which were acquired with lottery resources, but MPs expressed issue at gradual development in prosecuting Those people involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to recover belongings purchased with stolen state funds and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
While the SIU has referred fifteen matters towards the NPA, up to now only two folks have been brought prior to a court docket. Two Adult men appeared in courtroom in Kimberley not too long ago in reference to misappropriated cash collected for your venture to battle gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight yrs in prison for his aspect in a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Fees from two individuals charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” while in the corruption that overcome the NLC, ended up dropped.
Big-Normal Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, told MPs which the Hawks were being currently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-linked scenarios. Another one - the Kimberley subject - is ahead of a court and two are sent for the NPA for a call to prosecute. An additional five conditions are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic services, he reported.
Outlining the reasons for your delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock stated Portion of The explanation was the Hawks needed to do even more investigations after they received dossiers in the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out via the SIU don't satisfy felony specifications for prosecutions.”
Hence, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct prison investigations and make certain that the evidence satisfies legal prosecution expectations, he explained, including: “Having said that, the do the job of the SIU is vital and contributes significantly to this method.”
De Kock said the SIU’s investigation “normally leads to various referrals. The referrals may possibly finally lead to just one docket and 1 courtroom situation.”
He claimed that 12 matters, which happen to be “approximately eighty five% comprehensive”, ended up currently being jointly investigated via the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Unit. (The majority of these instances, 7 of which have been lodged in 2020, include previous NLC chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock said the NPA faced a number of “worries” in prosecuting conditions. These, he stated, included
the lapse of time among if the offences were dedicated and the issuing of your Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this calendar year, the SIU instructed the committee that key files desired in some prosecutions were deleted from the NLC Personal computer process or had absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse where by copies of files are archived and stored);
The truth that some implicated people remain utilized by NLC; and
A obstacle 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 finish, a workforce of devoted prosecutors continues to be allocated to oversee all NLC matters now under investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are taken care of as a precedence. Once [the] investigations are accomplished, the NPA is likely to make a choice.”
What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only capable to get comment from on the list of 5 corporations accused with the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year economical statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two directors, reported in an electronic mail in response to issues: “On account of client confidentiality, we would like to recommend that TTP Consulting is just not prepared to disclose clients’ economic private info with the public or media … without the consent in the customer or a legal purpose.”
The business is usually a “spouse” of various condition entities, which includes SARS along with the CIPC, In line with its Site.
Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're each listed as inactive to the CIPC register of providers, responded to emailed queries. The corporation is deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post financial statements given that 2021.
The only director of Mageba Ntuli Buying and selling and Consulting Assistance, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs in the past, As outlined by official information. The business was deregistered through the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements because 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, didn't respond to questions emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers With all the CIPC. We were also not able to trace any of the corporation’s directors to ask for remark.