The accountants who aided loot the Lottery

The accountants who aided loot the Lottery

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The Distinctive Investigating Device has discovered five accounting companies that aided loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Special Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting and auditing firms that served non-gain organizations loot Lottery income meant for “good will cause”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent monetary statements used by these businesses to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe said the SIU would take action to get these firms blacklisted.
A four-12 months probe by the หวย ออก Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing firms that served dodgy non-gain providers loot numerous numerous rands designed for “superior triggers” within the Lottery.

These firms were being described with the SIU as “Qualified enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent fiscal statements” which were utilized by the companies to apply for Lottery funding.

The five firms 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 Solutions.

Fraudulent financials produced by these 5 accounting corporations aided almost 40 organizations get their hands on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.

Determined by a Instrument that contains info with all lottery grants considering the fact that 2002, these providers acquired more than R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs were being funded because of the National Lotteries Fee (NLC) however the funds were not made use of for their intended function,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Level of competition Portfolio Committee final week.

The SIU, the Hawks and also the Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report to the committee on development in bringing people today and organisations involved with looting the lottery to ebook.

Xesibe advised GroundUp which the SIU meant to lodge complaints against the accounting corporations concerned and was checking if these companies were being registered and, If that's the case, with which Experienced bodies.

“We would like these companies to generally be blacklisted,” she instructed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to generate two years of annual money statements, Xesibe defined in Parliament.

On the other hand, being an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has disclosed, hijacked non-profit organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income providers (NPCs) without having economic keep track of information had been accustomed to apply for funding.

In certain situations, Just about equivalent financial statements had been created for unrelated organisations, typically with only the names in the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation observed.

Paperwork submitted by real NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications had been often employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The small print and documents of the unsuccessful applicants were being provided by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - generally - no verification, these dodgy applicants ended up awarded many rands in grants. From time to time more tranches of funds were being paid out out with no Significantly examining to the development of tasks.

The vast majority of those grants ended up designed by using proactive funding, which was at the guts of the looting of the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Sector and Competition, or the NLC along with its board, to recognize triggers to fund without having first necessitating an application. This was stopped every time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was at the moment investigating grants valued at more than R2-billion, and the unit was however often obtaining idea-offs about more corruption.

He advised MPs the SIU’s investigation had been broken into three phases: the initial, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also finished, included R247-million. In the 3rd period, resulting from be finalised at the end of the year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi stated.

He said which the SIU would utilize “shortly” to the Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in October 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, to get extended to include procurement from the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced so far brought about 13 disciplinary referrals on the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Intellectual Houses Fee to blacklist individuals implicated from the looting. Grievances involving two men and women were referred for the Authorized Exercise Council and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had observed numerous developments under the prior NLC board and government - lots of whom are implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This included a “trend of collusion in between NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “normal maladministration while in the approval of grants,” he reported.

Slow progress via the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Attributes, automobiles and also other belongings worth tens of thousands and thousands which were purchased with lottery cash, but MPs expressed worry at sluggish development in prosecuting Those people linked to the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to recover belongings acquired with stolen condition resources and does not have prosecuting powers).

While the SIU has referred 15 matters towards the NPA, thus far only two individuals have been brought just before a court. Two Adult males appeared in courtroom in Kimberley not too long ago in reference to misappropriated funds gathered for the undertaking to combat gender-dependent violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight several years in jail for his part in a very R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Charges in opposition to two folks charged with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” in the corruption that overwhelmed the NLC, ended up dropped.

Key-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, instructed MPs that the Hawks have been at present investigating 16 lottery corruption-similar cases. An additional 1 - the Kimberley subject - is before a court and two have already been sent on the NPA for a call to prosecute. A further 5 scenarios are increasingly being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic expert services, he explained.

Conveying the reasons for your hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock claimed Element of The key reason why was that the Hawks needed to do even further investigations once they been given dossiers from your SIU.

“In essence, the investigations carried out because of the SIU don't satisfy legal criteria for prosecutions.”

Thus, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and be certain that the evidence meets prison prosecution benchmarks, he claimed, incorporating: “That said, the get the job done on the SIU is significant and contributes considerably to this process.”

De Kock claimed which the SIU’s investigation “usually ends in multiple referrals. The referrals could ultimately cause a person docket and a single courtroom scenario.”

He reported that twelve issues, which can be “about eighty five% finish”, were being staying jointly investigated because of the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Device. (The majority of these situations, 7 of which ended up lodged in 2020, entail former NLC Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned less than a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock stated the NPA confronted many “challenges” in prosecuting situations. These, he said, incorporated

the lapse of time concerning when the offences had been dedicated plus the issuing of the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this 12 months, the SIU instructed the committee that vital files wanted in a few prosecutions had been deleted in the NLC computer procedure or experienced absent lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse wherever copies of paperwork are archived and saved);
The point that some implicated men and women remain utilized by NLC; and
A obstacle 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 conclusion, a group of devoted prosecutors has long been allotted to supervise all NLC issues currently under investigation,” de Kock mentioned. “Matters are handled as being a priority. As soon as [the] investigations are finished, the NPA can make a decision.”

What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get comment from one of several five organizations accused through the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent yearly economic statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, certainly one of TTP’s two administrators, mentioned within an email in response to questions: “Resulting from client confidentiality, we would like to recommend that TTP Consulting isn't ready to disclose clients’ economic confidential facts with the general public or media … with no consent of the consumer or maybe a lawful purpose.”

The business can be a “lover” of quite a few condition entities, together with SARS plus the CIPC, In keeping with its Web page.

Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're both of those detailed as inactive on the CIPC sign-up of companies, responded to emailed thoughts. The business has long been deregistered through the CIPC for failing to submit money statements because 2021.

The sole director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 several years in the past, As outlined by official data. The corporate was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements given that 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, didn't respond to questions emailed to him.

GroundUp was struggling 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.