The accountants who helped loot the Lottery

The accountants who helped loot the Lottery

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The Distinctive Investigating Unit has determined five accounting companies that assisted loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Specific Investigating Unit has determined five accounting and auditing companies that assisted non-financial gain organizations loot Lottery funds intended for “great triggers”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent economical statements used by these corporations to submit an application for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Performing Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe said the SIU would acquire action to own these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-12 months probe because of the ตรวจ หวย ลาว วัน นี้ Exclusive Investigating Device (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing firms that helped dodgy non-income firms loot hundreds of millions of rands designed for “very good leads to” from the Lottery.

These companies had been described with the SIU as “Experienced enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent financial statements” which were utilized by the businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The 5 companies ended up named in Parliament through the SIU’s acting chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They're TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services.

Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting firms served practically forty businesses get their palms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.

Based on a Device containing knowledge with all lottery grants because 2002, these firms bought over R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs have been funded because of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) although the resources were not applied for their intended intent,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Competitors Portfolio Committee very last week.

The SIU, the Hawks along with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing men and women and organisations involved in looting the lottery to reserve.

Xesibe explained to GroundUp the SIU meant to lodge problems against the accounting firms included and was examining if these companies were being registered and, In that case, with which Experienced bodies.

“We wish these businesses to get blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to deliver two yrs of annual monetary statements, Xesibe explained in Parliament.

However, being an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has discovered, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-earnings businesses (NPCs) without having money observe information have been utilized to make an application for funding.

In certain scenarios, Pretty much similar financial statements ended up generated for unrelated organisations, generally with only the names of your organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.

Paperwork submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant purposes have been frequently utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The main points and documents on the unsuccessful applicants were supplied by senior Lottery officials towards the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded an incredible number of rands in grants. Occasionally further tranches of funds have been paid out without Significantly checking about the progress of projects.

The vast majority of such grants had been manufactured through proactive funding, which was at the heart from the looting of the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Field and Competitiveness, or the NLC along with its board, to establish leads to to fund without the need of first requiring an application. This was stopped when a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi explained the SIU was now investigating grants valued at around R2-billion, as well as unit was continue to on a regular basis getting suggestion-offs about far more corruption.

He told MPs that the SIU’s investigation were damaged into three phases: the main, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also accomplished, concerned R247-million. During the 3rd phase, resulting from 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 reported.

He reported that the SIU would apply “before long” for your Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in October 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, for being extended to incorporate procurement by the NLC.

The SIU investigation had to this point led to 13 disciplinary referrals on the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Mental Qualities Fee to blacklist men and women implicated in the looting. Grievances involving two people today had been referred into the Legal Follow Council plus the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed many traits underneath the former NLC board and executive - a lot of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi instructed MPs.

This incorporated a “pattern of collusion concerning NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “standard maladministration from the approval of grants,” he stated.

Slow development with the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, properties, cars and trucks as well as other assets really worth tens of tens of millions that were bought with lottery cash, but MPs expressed concern at sluggish development in prosecuting Individuals linked to the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate belongings bought with stolen condition money and doesn't have prosecuting powers).

Though the SIU has referred fifteen issues for the NPA, thus far only two folks have been introduced just before a courtroom. Two Adult men appeared in court docket in Kimberley recently in connection with misappropriated money collected for your job to battle gender-dependent violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight decades in prison for his section in a very R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Charges in opposition to two folks billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” within the corruption that overcome the NLC, were being dropped.

Key-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, explained to MPs which the Hawks had been currently investigating 16 lottery corruption-connected situations. A different a single - the Kimberley make any difference - is just before a courtroom and two are already sent to your NPA for a choice to prosecute. An additional five circumstances are being investigated via the SAPS detective and forensic services, he said.

Explaining The explanations for the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock explained Section of The explanation was the Hawks needed to do additional investigations when they gained dossiers in the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken via the SIU don't satisfy felony standards for prosecutions.”

For that reason, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out criminal investigations and make certain that the evidence satisfies felony prosecution criteria, he reported, incorporating: “That said, the get the job done with the SIU is significant and contributes enormously to this method.”

De Kock mentioned which the SIU’s investigation “generally leads to many referrals. The referrals might in the long run bring about a single docket and one particular courtroom scenario.”

He reported that twelve issues, that happen to be “close to eighty five% total”, had been becoming jointly investigated through the Hawks along with the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Device. (These types of scenarios, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, contain former NLC Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock claimed the NPA faced a number of “challenges” in prosecuting situations. These, he reported, incorporated

the lapse of your time between once the offences ended up committed as well as issuing from the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this yr, the SIU instructed the committee that key files necessary in a few prosecutions had been deleted within the NLC Laptop method or had gone lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of paperwork are archived and stored);
The reality that some implicated persons are still employed by NLC; and
A obstacle into the legality of your Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to guaranteeing finalisation in these matters. To this end, a workforce of committed prosecutors has become allotted to oversee all NLC issues currently underneath investigation,” de Kock said. “Matters are dealt with to be a precedence. The moment [the] investigations are finished, the NPA is likely to make a call.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only ready to get remark from one of the five corporations accused because of the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent annual economical statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, certainly one of TTP’s two directors, mentioned in an email in reaction to issues: “Because of client confidentiality, we need to suggest that TTP Consulting is not really prepared to divulge consumers’ economic private facts with the public or media … with no consent of the consumer or a authorized reason.”

The business is usually a “spouse” of many condition entities, which includes SARS along with the CIPC, As outlined by its Web-site.

Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, that are the two detailed as inactive around the CIPC sign up of providers, responded to emailed issues. The corporate is deregistered through the CIPC for failing to post economic statements since 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died a few many years in the past, Based on official information. The corporate was deregistered via the CIPC for failing to post financial statements because 2021.

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

GroundUp was unable to discover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions Using the CIPC. We were also not able to trace any of the organization’s administrators to ask for comment.