The Distinctive Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting companies that aided loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Special Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting and auditing companies that aided non-gain corporations loot Lottery revenue intended for “excellent results in”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent financial statements utilized by these firms to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Performing chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe mentioned the SIU would take action to get these companies blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe via the หวย ไทยรัฐ Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing firms that served dodgy non-financial gain providers loot many hundreds of numerous rands designed for “great results in” in the Lottery.
These corporations were being explained through the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” which were used by the companies to apply for Lottery funding.
The five companies were being named in Parliament by the SIU’s performing chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions.
Fraudulent financials produced by these five accounting companies served nearly forty companies get their arms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
Determined by a Instrument that contains data with all lottery grants considering that 2002, these firms acquired around R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs ended up funded because of the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) but the money weren't applied for his or her intended purpose,” Xesibe advised Parliament’s Trade, Field and Levels of competition Portfolio Committee past 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks plus the Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing folks and organisations linked to looting the lottery to reserve.
Xesibe advised GroundUp that the SIU intended to lodge problems from the accounting companies concerned and was checking if these companies were registered and, If that's so, with which professional bodies.
“We wish these corporations for being blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to create two many years of once-a-year financial statements, Xesibe described in Parliament.
However, as an ongoing 6-calendar year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has discovered, hijacked non-profit organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-earnings corporations (NPCs) with no economic track information were utilized to apply for funding.
In some situations, Just about identical economic statements ended up made for unrelated organisations, generally with just the names of the organisations altered, GroundUp’s investigation found.
Documents submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications were generally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The main points and paperwork of your unsuccessful applicants ended up provided by senior Lottery officials to your dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - typically - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded a lot of rands in grants. Often further tranches of funds ended up paid out without the need of much examining about the development of tasks.
The overwhelming majority of such grants were created via proactive funding, which was at the heart in the looting on the lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Sector and Competition, or the NLC together with its board, to discover brings about to fund with no 1st requiring an software. This was stopped any time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants less than investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was at present investigating grants valued at over R2-billion, and the unit was still on a regular basis acquiring tip-offs about extra corruption.
He informed MPs the SIU’s investigation were damaged into a few phases: the primary, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also finished, concerned R247-million. From the 3rd section, as a result of be finalised at the end of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Pretty much R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi claimed.
He reported which the SIU would implement “shortly” to the Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in Oct 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, for being prolonged to include procurement by the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced to date resulted in thirteen disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Properties Commission to blacklist men and women implicated inside the looting. Problems involving two folks were referred into the Lawful Follow Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed numerous traits beneath the past NLC board and executive - many of whom have already been implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.
This provided a “pattern of collusion in between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “common maladministration in the acceptance of grants,” he stated.
Gradual progress from the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, Attributes, automobiles and also other assets truly worth tens of thousands and thousands which were purchased with lottery resources, but MPs expressed concern at sluggish progress in prosecuting All those involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate property purchased with stolen condition cash and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
Whilst the SIU has referred 15 issues to the NPA, to this point only two people have been introduced right before a courtroom. Two Guys appeared in court in Kimberley lately in reference to misappropriated cash collected for a venture to combat gender-based mostly violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 a long time in jail for his part in a very R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses versus two folks billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” in the corruption that overcome the NLC, have been dropped.
Important-General Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for precedence offences, explained to MPs which the Hawks ended up at present investigating 16 lottery corruption-associated instances. Yet another one particular - the Kimberley make any difference - is right before a courtroom and two have already been sent for the NPA for a choice to prosecute. A further five cases are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic expert services, he reported.
Explaining The explanations for your delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock stated Element of The key reason why was the Hawks needed to do more investigations once they gained dossiers from the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken through the SIU will not fulfill criminal specifications for prosecutions.”
Thus, the NPA experienced to work with investigators within the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and be sure that the evidence fulfills felony prosecution benchmarks, he claimed, including: “That said, the do the job of your SIU is very important and contributes significantly to this process.”
De Kock reported that the SIU’s investigation “frequently brings about several referrals. The referrals may ultimately cause 1 docket and just one court docket situation.”
He claimed that twelve issues, that happen to be “approximately 85% full”, have been being jointly investigated through the Hawks along with the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Device. (The majority of these scenarios, seven of which were lodged in 2020, contain previous NLC chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned less than a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock stated the NPA confronted quite a few “troubles” in prosecuting situations. These, he stated, bundled
the lapse of time concerning once the offences had been fully commited as well as the issuing of the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Earlier this 12 months, the SIU told the committee that vital documents wanted in a few prosecutions were deleted in the NLC Laptop or computer procedure or experienced long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse in which copies of documents are archived and saved);
the fact that some implicated people remain used by NLC; and
A problem to your legality with the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is committed to making sure finalisation in these matters. To this end, a staff of dedicated prosecutors has actually been allocated to supervise all NLC matters presently under investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Matters are handled as a precedence. After [the] investigations are done, the NPA will make a decision.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get comment from on the list of 5 businesses accused from the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent annual money statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, one of TTP’s two administrators, claimed within an e mail in response to concerns: “On account of consumer confidentiality, we want to recommend that TTP Consulting will not be ready to disclose purchasers’ economic private info with the public or media … without the consent on the shopper or possibly a authorized explanation.”
The corporation is a “companion” of a number of state entities, which includes SARS along with the CIPC, In keeping with its Web-site.
Neither of The 2 directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be both of those stated as inactive about the CIPC register of corporations, responded to emailed queries. The business continues to be deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements considering that 2021.
The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Services, Patrick Zulu, died three a long time in the past, according to official records. The organization was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to submit economic statements due to the fact 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to questions emailed to him.
GroundUp was struggling to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services Using the CIPC. We were also struggling to trace any of the business’s administrators to ask for remark.