The accountants who aided loot the Lottery

The accountants who aided loot the Lottery

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The Distinctive Investigating Unit has identified five accounting corporations that assisted loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Distinctive Investigating Device has determined five accounting and auditing firms that served non-gain organizations loot Lottery income intended for “very good will cause”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent monetary statements used by these businesses to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU advised Parliament.
Acting Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe mentioned the SIU would acquire action to acquire these companies blacklisted.
A 4-year probe through the ตัว หวย Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing companies that aided dodgy non-income firms loot countless numerous rands designed for “great brings about” within the Lottery.

These companies have been explained from the SIU as “Experienced enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent fiscal statements” which were utilized by the businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The five businesses 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 practically 40 businesses get their hands on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.

Dependant on a Instrument that contains information with all lottery grants given that 2002, these firms got about R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs had been funded by the Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) even so the resources were not utilized for their meant intent,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Sector and Competitors Portfolio Committee past week.

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 linked to looting the lottery to reserve.

Xesibe instructed GroundUp that the SIU intended to lodge issues in opposition to the accounting firms associated and was examining if these firms ended up registered and, If that's the case, with which Qualified bodies.

“We wish these organizations to be blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to deliver two decades of yearly economic statements, Xesibe described in Parliament.

Nevertheless, being an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-financial gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-revenue corporations (NPCs) with no economic observe documents were used to make an application for funding.

In certain occasions, almost identical fiscal statements were being produced for unrelated organisations, usually with only the names on the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.

Documents submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications had been typically employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The small print and paperwork on the unsuccessful applicants ended up equipped by senior Lottery officials towards the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants were awarded countless rands in grants. In some cases supplemental tranches of money have been compensated out with out Considerably checking within the progress of assignments.

The vast majority of these grants were made via proactive funding, which was at the guts with the looting on the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competitors, or maybe the NLC at the side of its board, to establish triggers to fund without initially requiring an application. This was stopped every time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at around R2-billion, along with the device was nevertheless on a regular basis acquiring idea-offs about far more corruption.

He instructed MPs which the SIU’s investigation were damaged into 3 phases: the first, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also concluded, concerned R247-million. While in the third phase, due to be finalised at the conclusion of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi reported.

He claimed the SIU would apply “before long” with the Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in Oct 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, for being extended to include procurement from the NLC.

The SIU investigation had so far brought about thirteen disciplinary referrals for the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Homes Fee to blacklist people implicated while in the looting. Problems involving two people had been referred for the Authorized Apply Council as well as the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed quite a few tendencies under the prior NLC board and govt - a lot of whom are actually implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.

This integrated a “development of collusion among NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “basic maladministration within the approval of grants,” he reported.

Gradual development through the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Attributes, vehicles along with other belongings value tens of millions that were purchased with lottery cash, but MPs expressed problem at gradual progress in prosecuting those associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property purchased with stolen point out funds and does not have prosecuting powers).

Whilst the SIU has referred fifteen issues into the NPA, so far only two individuals have been brought just before a court. Two Adult males appeared in courtroom in Kimberley just lately in connection with misappropriated cash gathered for the undertaking to beat gender-primarily based violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 decades in prison for his part in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses towards two persons billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” inside the corruption that overcome the NLC, had been dropped.

Important-General Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, instructed MPs which the Hawks had been at this time investigating sixteen lottery corruption-similar situations. Another one particular - the Kimberley make any difference - is just before a courtroom and two are actually despatched on the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five cases are increasingly being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic solutions, he reported.

Explaining the reasons with the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock explained A part of The key reason why was that the Hawks had to do more investigations every time they acquired dossiers through the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations carried out from the SIU will not fulfill prison requirements for prosecutions.”

Thus, the NPA experienced to operate with investigators during the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform felony investigations and be sure that the evidence meets prison prosecution requirements, he explained, incorporating: “That said, the operate with the SIU is important and contributes greatly to this method.”

De Kock claimed that the SIU’s investigation “generally results in a number of referrals. The referrals may eventually bring about 1 docket and one particular courtroom scenario.”

He reported that 12 issues, which can be “about eighty five% comprehensive”, ended up remaining jointly investigated by the Hawks and also the SIU’s Specialised Economic Operations Device. (A large number of scenarios, seven of which have been lodged in 2020, include previous NLC chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock reported the NPA faced quite a few “difficulties” in prosecuting conditions. These, he mentioned, involved

the lapse of time in between once the offences ended up fully commited plus the issuing of the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Earlier this calendar year, the SIU told the committee that key files needed in some prosecutions were deleted with the NLC Computer system technique or had absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse wherever copies of documents are archived and saved);
the fact that some implicated people today are still utilized by NLC; and
A challenge to your legality from the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this conclude, a staff of focused prosecutors continues to be allocated to oversee all NLC matters at present beneath investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are handled as being a priority. Once [the] investigations are completed, the NPA will make a call.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only capable of get remark from among the 5 firms accused from the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual economical statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, considered one of TTP’s two directors, explained within an e-mail in reaction to questions: “Resulting from shopper confidentiality, we desire to suggest that TTP Consulting is not really prepared to disclose customers’ economic confidential data with the general public or media … with no consent with the shopper or simply a lawful motive.”

The corporate is often a “lover” of many state entities, such as SARS and also the CIPC, Based on its website.

Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're both stated as inactive around the CIPC sign-up of businesses, responded to emailed inquiries. The company has become deregistered via the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements due to the fact 2021.

The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Company, Patrick Zulu, died a few decades back, according to Formal data. The corporate was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements because 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the only real director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to issues emailed to him.

GroundUp was not able to find any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services Along with the CIPC. We had been also not able to trace any of the company’s directors to request remark.