The accountants who assisted loot the Lottery
The accountants who assisted loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Unique Investigating Unit has identified 5 accounting firms that aided loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Exclusive Investigating Device has discovered 5 accounting and auditing corporations that aided non-earnings businesses loot Lottery money intended for “very good causes”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent economical statements used by these firms to submit an application for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Performing chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe reported the SIU would get action to acquire these firms blacklisted.
A 4-yr probe through the หุ้น ชอง 9 Specific Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered 5 accounting and auditing companies that aided dodgy non-income organizations loot many an incredible number of rands intended for “excellent will cause” from your Lottery.
These companies have been described by the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” which were used by the businesses to apply for Lottery funding.
The 5 companies ended up named in Parliament from the SIU’s acting chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They may be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting corporations served practically 40 providers get their hands on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
According to a Software made up of knowledge with all lottery grants given that 2002, these businesses bought in excess of R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs had been funded via the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) nevertheless the cash weren't utilised for his or her meant goal,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Field and Levels of competition Portfolio Committee last week.
The SIU, the Hawks plus the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report to the committee on development in bringing individuals and organisations linked to looting the lottery to book.
Xesibe told GroundUp which the SIU intended to lodge problems in opposition to the accounting corporations concerned and was examining if these companies had been registered and, In that case, with which Skilled bodies.
“We would like these providers to get blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to produce two a long time of yearly economical statements, Xesibe discussed in Parliament.
On the other hand, being an ongoing six-year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-profit organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income companies (NPCs) without any financial monitor documents have been utilized to apply for funding.
In certain instances, Virtually similar economical statements were made for unrelated organisations, usually with only the names from the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation located.
Documents submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant apps ended up normally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The small print and documents from the unsuccessful applicants had been provided by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded millions of rands in grants. At times added tranches of money were being compensated out with no Significantly examining within the development of projects.
The vast majority of those grants were being created via proactive funding, which was at the center with the looting of the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Business and Level of competition, or even the NLC together with its board, to determine leads to to fund without having very first demanding 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 presently investigating grants valued at around R2-billion, along with the device was even now routinely obtaining idea-offs about extra corruption.
He told MPs that the SIU’s investigation had been damaged into a few phases: the very first, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also finished, included R247-million. Inside the 3rd section, on account of be finalised at the conclusion of the calendar year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Virtually R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi reported.
He reported which the SIU would use “soon” for your Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to get prolonged to include procurement because of the NLC.
The SIU investigation had to this point brought about 13 disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Homes Fee to blacklist men and women implicated inside the looting. Issues involving two people had been referred for the Authorized Follow Council as well as SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had noticed quite a few trends under the preceding NLC board and govt - most of whom are already implicated in looting - Mothibi instructed MPs.
This incorporated a “pattern of collusion involving NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “standard maladministration while in the approval of grants,” he mentioned.
Slow development with the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, Homes, cars along with other belongings worthy of tens of hundreds of thousands which were acquired with lottery funds, but MPs expressed issue at gradual progress in prosecuting Those people involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get better assets purchased with stolen point out resources and does not have prosecuting powers).
Although the SIU has referred 15 issues to the NPA, to date only two individuals have been brought ahead of a courtroom. Two Males appeared in court in Kimberley just lately in connection with misappropriated cash collected for the task to fight gender-centered violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight several years in jail for his component inside of a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Charges against two people charged with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” from the corruption that confused the NLC, had been dropped.
Major-Normal Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for priority offences, advised MPs which the Hawks had been currently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-relevant conditions. Yet another one - the Kimberley matter - is prior to a court docket and two are actually despatched on the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five instances are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic expert services, he explained.
Explaining The explanations for your hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock stated Component of The main reason was that the Hawks had to do further investigations after they gained dossiers from the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken through the SIU tend not to satisfy criminal specifications for prosecutions.”
Thus, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and make certain that the proof meets felony prosecution criteria, he mentioned, including: “Having said that, the work of the SIU is very important and contributes significantly to this process.”
De Kock said which the SIU’s investigation “generally results in many referrals. The referrals might eventually result in a single docket and a person court docket circumstance.”
He mentioned that 12 matters, which happen to be “about eighty five% comprehensive”, ended up remaining jointly investigated because of the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Unit. (Many of these instances, 7 of which had been lodged in 2020, involve previous NLC chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock claimed the NPA faced quite a few “troubles” in prosecuting cases. These, he explained, integrated
the lapse of time concerning when the offences had been dedicated plus the issuing from the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Previously this 12 months, the SIU instructed the committee that key documents essential in a few prosecutions had been deleted with the NLC Pc technique or had absent missing from Metrofile, a warehouse in which copies of documents are archived and saved);
The truth that some implicated folks are still used by NLC; and
A problem on the legality in the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to ensuring finalisation in these issues. To this stop, a team of committed prosecutors has actually been allocated to oversee all NLC matters presently less than investigation,” de Kock mentioned. “Matters are taken care of like a precedence. At the time [the] investigations are finished, the NPA is likely to make a call.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from on the list of 5 firms accused because of the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual economic statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two directors, stated within an e-mail in reaction to inquiries: “As a consequence of customer confidentiality, we want to suggest that TTP Consulting is not ready to disclose shoppers’ economic private information with the public or media … without the consent of the client or even a authorized explanation.”
The corporate is usually a “partner” of several point out entities, which includes SARS along with the CIPC, In keeping with its Web page.
Neither of the two directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be both equally shown as inactive within the CIPC sign up of providers, responded to emailed queries. The company has become deregistered by the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements given that 2021.
The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Services, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs back, according to official records. The organization was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post money statements considering the fact that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only real director of Magodi Consultants, did not respond to thoughts emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services Along with the CIPC. We have been also struggling to trace any of the business’s administrators to ask for remark.