The accountants who served loot the Lottery

The accountants who served loot the Lottery

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The Unique Investigating Unit has discovered five accounting firms that served loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Distinctive Investigating Unit has recognized 5 accounting and auditing companies that assisted non-earnings companies loot Lottery funds meant for “fantastic causes”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent monetary statements used by these businesses to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Performing chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe said the SIU would take motion to obtain these companies blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe with the ตรวจ หวย ลาว วัน นี้ Specific Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing corporations that aided dodgy non-gain firms loot many millions of rands designed for “very good triggers” in the Lottery.

These corporations ended up described through the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” which were used by the businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The five firms were being named in Parliament from the SIU’s acting chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They are really TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions.

Fraudulent financials produced by these five accounting firms served nearly forty companies get their arms on lottery funding, in accordance with the SIU presentation.

Dependant on a Device made up of details with all lottery grants considering the fact that 2002, these corporations acquired more than R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs were being funded because of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) but the cash weren't employed for his or her intended function,” Xesibe explained to Parliament’s Trade, Market and Competition Portfolio Committee final week.

The SIU, the Hawks plus the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing people and organisations involved in looting the lottery to guide.

Xesibe informed GroundUp that the SIU meant to lodge problems from the accounting companies concerned and was examining if these companies have been registered and, If that's the case, with which Expert bodies.

“We wish these firms for being blacklisted,” she told GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to create two yrs of annual money statements, Xesibe defined in Parliament.

Having said that, as an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has disclosed, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-financial gain companies (NPCs) with no monetary monitor information have been used to apply for funding.

In some situations, Nearly identical financial statements were being manufactured for unrelated organisations, generally with only the names from the organisations changed, GroundUp’s investigation uncovered.

Paperwork submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs have been frequently utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The small print and paperwork of your unsuccessful applicants ended up provided by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded many rands in grants. In some cases extra tranches of money were compensated out without the need of A great deal checking over the progress of tasks.

The overwhelming majority of such grants have been created through proactive funding, which was at the center in the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Marketplace and Level of competition, or even the NLC at the side of its board, to determine causes to fund without having initial requiring an software. This was stopped when a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi explained the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at over R2-billion, as well as the unit was however routinely receiving suggestion-offs about additional corruption.

He told MPs that the SIU’s investigation were damaged into a few phases: the initial, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the next, also completed, included R247-million. During the 3rd period, because of be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Virtually R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi explained.

He mentioned which the SIU would use “soon” for that Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in Oct 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, being prolonged to include procurement because of the NLC.

The SIU investigation had to date brought about thirteen disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Houses Fee to blacklist people implicated during the looting. Complaints involving two men and women had been referred towards the Legal Follow Council along with the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed various tendencies under the former NLC board and government - many of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This involved a “trend of collusion involving NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “standard maladministration in the approval of grants,” he reported.

Slow progress with the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, properties, automobiles and various assets really worth tens of thousands and thousands which were purchased with lottery money, but MPs expressed concern at slow development in prosecuting Those people linked to the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property bought with stolen point out money and does not have prosecuting powers).

Though the SIU has referred fifteen matters into the NPA, thus far only two individuals have been introduced right before a courtroom. Two Guys appeared in court docket in Kimberley just lately in reference to misappropriated money gathered for a task to combat gender-based mostly violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his portion inside of a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Costs in opposition to two persons billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” during the corruption that confused the NLC, were being dropped.

Important-Typical Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for priority offences, informed MPs that the Hawks were being now investigating sixteen lottery corruption-connected instances. Another a person - the Kimberley subject - is just before a court docket and two are already despatched for the NPA for a call to prosecute. A further five conditions are now being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic solutions, he claimed.

Explaining the reasons for your delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock mentioned Component of the reason was the Hawks had to do more investigations whenever they gained dossiers from the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations carried out because of the SIU tend not to satisfy prison criteria for prosecutions.”

For that reason, the NPA had to work with investigators in the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct prison investigations and make sure that the proof fulfills prison prosecution criteria, he stated, incorporating: “Having said that, the function with the SIU is essential and contributes drastically to this method.”

De Kock reported which the SIU’s investigation “often results in a number of referrals. The referrals may possibly in the long run end in a person docket and a person courtroom situation.”

He mentioned that 12 issues, that happen to be “about 85% entire”, ended up getting jointly investigated from the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Unit. (A large number of circumstances, 7 of which were lodged in 2020, entail previous NLC Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock said the NPA faced numerous “troubles” in prosecuting conditions. These, he said, integrated

the lapse of time in between once the offences had been committed and also the issuing from the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Earlier this year, the SIU explained to the committee that critical paperwork required in certain prosecutions had been deleted from the NLC Computer system technique or experienced absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse in which copies of files are archived and stored);
The reality that some implicated people are still utilized by NLC; and
A obstacle to the legality on the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to making sure finalisation in these issues. To this finish, a crew of committed prosecutors has long been allotted to supervise all NLC matters at this time underneath investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are dealt with like a priority. Once [the] investigations are completed, the NPA could make a choice.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from one of many 5 firms accused from the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual money statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two administrators, said in an e mail in reaction to concerns: “As a consequence of client confidentiality, we desire to suggest that TTP Consulting is not really prepared to disclose clients’ monetary confidential details with the public or media … without the consent from the client or perhaps a legal reason.”

The company is a “husband or wife” of various condition entities, such as SARS and the CIPC, according to its Web page.

Neither of the two directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be equally listed as inactive about the CIPC sign up of organizations, responded to emailed thoughts. The organization has long been deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements given that 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Buying and selling and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died 3 several years in the past, In line with official records. The organization was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to post money statements considering the fact that 2021.

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

GroundUp was struggling to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers with the CIPC. We ended up also unable to trace any of the business’s administrators to request comment.