The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Unique Investigating Unit has determined five accounting corporations that aided loot Lottery resources. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Exclusive Investigating Unit has discovered five accounting and auditing corporations that assisted non-income firms loot Lottery cash supposed for “great will cause”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent economic statements utilized by these corporations to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU explained to Parliament.
Performing Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe said the SIU would choose action to get these companies blacklisted.
A four-year probe via the ruay Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing firms that helped dodgy non-income corporations loot countless numerous rands designed for “excellent triggers” from your Lottery.
These corporations ended up explained with the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent fiscal statements” which were employed by the companies to apply for Lottery funding.
The five firms were being named in Parliament from the SIU’s acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They can be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting firms aided virtually forty businesses get their hands on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
Dependant on a Software containing facts with all lottery grants because 2002, these firms got more than R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs had been funded from the National Lotteries Fee (NLC) although the funds weren't utilized for their supposed objective,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Market and Opposition Portfolio Committee last week.
The SIU, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing people and organisations associated with looting the lottery to e book.
Xesibe explained to GroundUp which the SIU meant to lodge problems towards the accounting corporations associated and was examining if these companies ended up registered and, If that's the case, with which Specialist bodies.
“We would like these firms to be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to generate two yrs of yearly monetary statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.
However, being an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has unveiled, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-gain organizations (NPCs) without economical keep track of documents ended up used to submit an application for funding.
In certain cases, Virtually equivalent economic statements ended up made for unrelated organisations, normally with just the names of the organisations altered, GroundUp’s investigation located.
Paperwork submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications had been generally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The details and files of your unsuccessful applicants ended up supplied by senior Lottery officers on the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - generally - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded a lot of rands in grants. At times supplemental tranches of cash were being paid out with out A great deal examining over the development of assignments.
The vast majority of such grants ended up created via proactive funding, which was at the center on the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Industry and Opposition, or maybe the NLC together with its board, to detect triggers to fund devoid of to start with requiring an application. This was stopped each time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants underneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at more than R2-billion, along with the unit was still frequently getting tip-offs about far more corruption.
He advised MPs that the SIU’s investigation had been damaged into 3 phases: the primary, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also concluded, included R247-million. From the third period, on account of be finalised at the end of the calendar year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Practically R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi explained.
He reported that the SIU would implement “soon” for your Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to be prolonged to incorporate procurement via the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced so far led to thirteen disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Intellectual Attributes Fee to blacklist men and women implicated while in the looting. Complaints involving two people today had been referred to your Legal Exercise Council plus the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced observed quite a few trends beneath the previous NLC board and executive - lots of whom have already been implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.
This incorporated a “pattern of collusion concerning NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “basic maladministration in the acceptance of grants,” he claimed.
Gradual progress through the NPA
The SIU has frozen residences, Houses, cars and trucks along with other assets worth tens of tens of millions that were bought with lottery funds, but MPs expressed worry at sluggish progress in prosecuting These linked to the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well belongings bought with stolen point out money and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
Although the SIU has referred fifteen issues to the NPA, up to now only two people have been brought in advance of a court docket. Two men appeared in court in Kimberley not too long ago in reference to misappropriated resources gathered for your project to battle gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 decades in jail for his portion in a very R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Prices from two men and women charged with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” during the corruption that overcome the NLC, had been dropped.
Important-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for priority offences, explained to MPs that the Hawks ended up at present investigating sixteen lottery corruption-associated conditions. One more one - the Kimberley subject - is before a court and two have already been sent to your NPA for a call to prosecute. An extra 5 scenarios are increasingly being investigated from the SAPS detective and forensic companies, he explained.
Outlining The explanations for that delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Nationwide Director Rodney de Kock reported part of the reason was which the Hawks had to do further investigations when they obtained dossiers in the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out with the SIU usually do not satisfy felony specifications for prosecutions.”
Thus, the NPA had to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and be sure that the proof fulfills legal prosecution expectations, he explained, incorporating: “That said, the function of the SIU is significant and contributes considerably to this method.”
De Kock explained the SIU’s investigation “usually results in numerous referrals. The referrals may ultimately end in just one docket and a single court docket situation.”
He reported that 12 issues, that happen to be “about eighty five% comprehensive”, had been being jointly investigated with the Hawks and the SIU’s Specialised Financial Functions Unit. (A large number of circumstances, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, entail previous NLC Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned less than a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock reported the NPA confronted a number of “issues” in prosecuting cases. These, he stated, incorporated
the lapse of time between in the event the offences ended up dedicated along with the issuing in the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this 12 months, the SIU explained to the committee that critical paperwork needed in a few prosecutions were deleted in the NLC computer program or had gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse the place copies of paperwork are archived and saved);
The truth that some implicated folks are still utilized by NLC; and
A problem to your legality of the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to guaranteeing finalisation in these matters. To this conclude, a crew of committed prosecutors continues to be allocated to supervise all NLC matters currently less than investigation,” de Kock said. “Issues are dealt with as being a precedence. The moment [the] investigations are accomplished, the NPA can make a choice.”
What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only ready to get comment from on the list of five firms accused because of the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual economic statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two directors, claimed within an electronic mail in reaction to queries: “Due to shopper confidentiality, we need to recommend that TTP Consulting will not be ready to divulge customers’ economical private details with the public or media … with no consent in the client or simply a authorized reason.”
The company is often a “associate” of several condition entities, including SARS plus the CIPC, In line with its Web site.
Neither of the two directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be the two shown as inactive on the CIPC sign up of companies, responded to emailed questions. The company is deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements given that 2021.
The sole director of Mageba Ntuli Buying and selling and Consulting Service, Patrick Zulu, died 3 several years ago, As outlined by official data. The company was deregistered by the CIPC for failing to post monetary statements considering the fact that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, did not respond to inquiries emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions Together with the CIPC. We were being also struggling to trace any of the company’s administrators to request comment.
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