The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Specific Investigating Device has discovered 5 accounting firms that aided loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Specific Investigating Unit has identified 5 accounting and auditing firms that aided non-financial gain providers loot Lottery income supposed for “superior will cause”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent economic statements used by these corporations to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Acting chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe reported the SIU would choose motion to acquire these companies blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe via the ตรวจ ล้อ ต เต อ รี่ Specific Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing companies that served dodgy non-earnings firms loot hundreds of an incredible number of rands designed for “great causes” in the Lottery.
These firms were explained because of the SIU as “Specialist enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent economic statements” that were employed by the companies to submit an application for Lottery funding.
The five businesses ended up named in Parliament from the SIU’s performing Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They are really TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting corporations served almost 40 firms get their palms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
Depending on a Resource that contains facts with all lottery grants considering the fact that 2002, these businesses received above R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs have been funded because of the Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) nevertheless the funds weren't utilised for their meant purpose,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Business and Competitors Portfolio Committee very last 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks along with the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report to the committee on development in bringing individuals and organisations associated with looting the lottery to ebook.
Xesibe instructed GroundUp the SIU intended to lodge grievances towards the accounting firms associated and was examining if these corporations were being registered and, If that's the case, with which Specialist bodies.
“We would like these corporations being blacklisted,” she instructed GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to make two a long time of once-a-year economical statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.
Having said that, being an ongoing 6-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has disclosed, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-gain organizations (NPCs) without financial keep track of records were being utilized to make an application for funding.
In some circumstances, Virtually identical fiscal statements ended up created for unrelated organisations, frequently with only the names with the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.
Paperwork submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs have been normally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The main points and paperwork with the unsuccessful applicants were being equipped by senior Lottery officers towards the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - usually - no verification, these dodgy applicants ended up awarded millions of rands in grants. From time to time added tranches of funds ended up paid out out without having Considerably checking over the progress of tasks.
The vast majority of those grants were being made by way of proactive funding, which was at the heart from the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Sector and Opposition, or maybe the NLC in conjunction with its board, to detect will cause to fund devoid of very first demanding an application. This was stopped every time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi said the SIU was at this time investigating grants valued at above R2-billion, and the unit was nevertheless consistently acquiring idea-offs about more corruption.
He told MPs which the SIU’s investigation had been damaged into 3 phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the next, also finished, concerned R247-million. Inside the third period, on account of be finalised at the end of the year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Pretty much R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi stated.
He said which the SIU would use “soon” with the Presidential Proclamation, initially granted in Oct 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, for being prolonged to include procurement via the NLC.
The SIU investigation had to this point resulted in 13 disciplinary referrals to your NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Properties Commission to blacklist individuals implicated while in the looting. Issues involving two persons were referred to your Lawful Observe Council and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed several trends underneath the former NLC board and govt - lots of whom are actually implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.
This involved a “pattern of collusion between NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “standard maladministration inside the acceptance of grants,” he stated.
Gradual progress because of the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Houses, cars and other assets worthy of tens of millions that were purchased with lottery cash, but MPs expressed issue at gradual progress in prosecuting those involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to recover belongings bought with stolen condition cash and does not have prosecuting powers).
When the SIU has referred 15 matters to the NPA, to date only two people have been brought before a court. Two Adult men appeared in court docket in Kimberley just lately in reference to misappropriated resources gathered for a task to battle gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight several years in prison for his portion in the R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses in opposition to two folks charged with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” in the corruption that confused the NLC, ended up dropped.
Main-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, explained to MPs the Hawks were being at present investigating sixteen lottery corruption-associated situations. An additional one particular - the Kimberley matter - is just before a courtroom and two have been sent for the NPA for a call to prosecute. An extra 5 cases are being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic expert services, he claimed.
Conveying The explanations with the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock stated Portion of The explanation was that the Hawks needed to do even more investigations if they been given dossiers within the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken with the SIU tend not to satisfy criminal benchmarks for prosecutions.”
For that reason, the NPA had to operate with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out prison investigations and make sure that the evidence fulfills felony prosecution criteria, he reported, adding: “Having said that, the work from the SIU is significant and contributes enormously to this method.”
De Kock said which the SIU’s investigation “often results in multiple referrals. The referrals may finally end in one particular docket and a single court scenario.”
He explained that 12 matters, which can be “approximately 85% complete”, ended up becoming jointly investigated because of the Hawks and the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Device. (Many of these conditions, seven of which have been lodged in 2020, contain previous NLC Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned under a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock explained the NPA faced various “difficulties” in prosecuting scenarios. These, he stated, bundled
the lapse of time concerning when the offences were being dedicated and the issuing on the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Previously this 12 months, the SIU instructed the committee that vital files essential in a few prosecutions were deleted from the NLC computer procedure or experienced gone lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse in which copies of files are archived and stored);
The reality that some implicated folks remain employed by NLC; and
A challenge to your legality in the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this conclude, a workforce of dedicated prosecutors has become allotted to oversee all NLC matters at present beneath investigation,” de Kock reported. “Issues are managed to be a precedence. The moment [the] investigations are done, the NPA is likely to make a call.”
What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only ready to get comment from one of the five providers accused through the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual economic statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two directors, stated in an e mail in reaction to issues: “Because of consumer confidentiality, we would like to suggest that TTP Consulting is just not prepared to disclose clients’ economic confidential data with the general public or media … with no consent in the client or a lawful explanation.”
The organization is a “husband or wife” of many point out entities, which include SARS as well as the CIPC, according to its Site.
Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're both of those detailed as inactive over the CIPC register of corporations, responded to emailed concerns. The business has long been deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit economic statements due to the fact 2021.
The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Company, Patrick Zulu, died a few years back, Based on official information. The organization was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to submit money statements considering that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to issues emailed to him.
GroundUp was unable to discover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services Together with the CIPC. We were also unable to trace any of the corporation’s administrators to ask for comment.