The Unique Investigating Device has identified 5 accounting companies that aided loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Exclusive Investigating Unit has determined five accounting and auditing firms that aided non-financial gain businesses loot Lottery funds meant for “great brings about”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent economical statements employed by these corporations to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe stated the SIU would choose action to acquire these companies blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe with the ตรวจ Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing corporations that helped dodgy non-financial gain companies loot numerous a lot of rands designed for “superior leads to” from the Lottery.
These companies ended up described with the SIU as “Expert enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” that were used by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.
The 5 companies have been named in Parliament through 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 Providers.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting firms aided practically forty corporations get their hands on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.
Dependant on a Instrument that contains facts with all lottery grants because 2002, these organizations acquired in excess of R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs ended up funded via the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) although the money weren't used for his or her meant goal,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Competitors Portfolio Committee final 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks as well as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing men and women and organisations associated with looting the lottery to book.
Xesibe informed GroundUp that the SIU meant to lodge complaints versus the accounting companies associated and was checking if these corporations had been registered and, if so, with which Qualified bodies.
“We want these corporations to be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to create two years of annual money statements, Xesibe defined in Parliament.
However, as an ongoing six-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has discovered, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-financial gain firms (NPCs) without monetary track data were accustomed to apply for funding.
In some scenarios, Nearly equivalent monetary statements ended up created for unrelated organisations, typically with only the names on the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation found.
Documents submitted by real NPCs for unsuccessful grant apps ended up normally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The main points and paperwork with the unsuccessful applicants had been equipped by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded numerous rands in grants. Occasionally extra tranches of cash had been compensated out without having much examining within the development of assignments.
The overwhelming majority of these grants ended up manufactured through proactive funding, which was at the guts from the looting with the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Market and Competition, or the NLC along side its board, to identify triggers to fund devoid of 1st necessitating an application. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was at present investigating grants valued at above R2-billion, and also the unit was continue to on a regular basis receiving suggestion-offs about more corruption.
He advised MPs which the SIU’s investigation were damaged into a few phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also accomplished, included R247-million. In the third phase, on account of be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Pretty much R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi claimed.
He claimed the SIU would implement “quickly” for that Presidential Proclamation, initially granted in Oct 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, to become prolonged to include procurement through the NLC.
The SIU investigation had to this point resulted in thirteen disciplinary referrals on the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Houses Commission to blacklist persons implicated in the looting. Complaints involving two men and women had been referred on the Authorized Exercise Council and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced noticed quite a few traits beneath the earlier NLC board and government - many of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi informed MPs.
This included a “development of collusion involving NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration in the acceptance of grants,” he said.
Gradual progress through the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, Houses, vehicles as well as other assets well worth tens of tens of millions that were bought with lottery money, but MPs expressed issue at gradual development in prosecuting those associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate assets bought with stolen point out cash and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
While the SIU has referred fifteen matters towards the NPA, up to now only two folks have been introduced right before a courtroom. Two Guys appeared in court in Kimberley not too long ago in connection with misappropriated cash gathered for just a task to fight gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight decades in prison for his part in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Charges towards two people today billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” in the corruption that overwhelmed the NLC, had been dropped.
Key-Standard Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, informed MPs which the Hawks were being now investigating sixteen lottery corruption-linked scenarios. One more one particular - the Kimberley issue - is just before a court docket and two are already sent on the NPA for a call to prosecute. A further 5 circumstances are being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic solutions, he claimed.
Explaining the reasons to the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Nationwide Director Rodney de Kock said Section of the reason was that the Hawks needed to do further investigations once they acquired dossiers through the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken through the SIU don't satisfy prison expectations for prosecutions.”
As a result, the NPA experienced to work with investigators during the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out prison investigations and make sure the evidence fulfills criminal prosecution expectations, he said, including: “Having said that, the work on the SIU is important and contributes drastically to this method.”
De Kock claimed which the SIU’s investigation “often results in numerous referrals. The referrals might in the end lead to one particular docket and just one courtroom situation.”
He stated that twelve matters, which can be “roughly eighty five% comprehensive”, had been being jointly investigated by the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Device. (These types of instances, seven of which ended up lodged in 2020, involve former NLC chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned under a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock explained the NPA confronted quite a few “challenges” in prosecuting circumstances. These, he explained, involved
the lapse of your time involving if the offences ended up dedicated along with the issuing on the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Previously this yr, the SIU told the committee that vital paperwork necessary in certain prosecutions were deleted in the NLC computer procedure or had absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse the place copies of files are archived and stored);
The reality that some implicated people are still employed by NLC; and
A problem towards the legality with the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is committed to making certain finalisation in these matters. To this conclusion, a team of dedicated prosecutors has actually been allotted to supervise all NLC issues at this time underneath investigation,” de Kock reported. “Issues are managed for a precedence. The moment [the] investigations are concluded, the NPA could make a choice.”
What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from on the list of 5 organizations accused through the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year economical statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two directors, stated within an email in response to questions: “Due to consumer confidentiality, we want to recommend that TTP Consulting will not be willing to disclose clientele’ money private details with the public or media … without the consent in the consumer or simply a lawful purpose.”
The business is often a “lover” of various point out entities, together with SARS as well as CIPC, In accordance with its Site.
Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, that are each listed as inactive to the CIPC register of corporations, responded to emailed queries. The company has actually been deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit money statements given that 2021.
The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Services, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs in the past, In keeping with Formal data. The corporate was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to post fiscal statements due to the fact 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to queries emailed to him.
GroundUp was unable to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies With all the CIPC. We were also not able to trace any of the company’s directors to request remark.