The Unique Investigating Unit has recognized 5 accounting companies that helped loot Lottery money. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Distinctive Investigating Unit has recognized 5 accounting and auditing corporations that helped non-earnings companies loot Lottery funds meant for “fantastic causes”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent monetary statements used by these businesses to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Performing Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe stated the SIU would take motion to own these firms blacklisted.
A 4-year probe by the luckyvip77 Unique Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing firms that helped dodgy non-profit companies loot hundreds of many rands intended for “excellent leads to” within the Lottery.
These companies were described by the SIU as “Qualified enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent monetary statements” which were employed by the companies to apply for Lottery funding.
The five corporations were named in Parliament with the SIU’s performing chief nationwide 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 just about 40 organizations get their fingers on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
According to a tool made up of knowledge with all lottery grants considering that 2002, these organizations got about R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs have been funded by the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) nevertheless the resources were not employed for his or her supposed goal,” Xesibe explained to Parliament’s Trade, Business and Level of competition Portfolio Committee last week.
The SIU, the Hawks as well as the Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) have been in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing men and women and organisations involved with looting the lottery to e-book.
Xesibe advised GroundUp the SIU intended to lodge problems from the accounting companies involved and was examining if these companies had been registered and, if so, with which Experienced bodies.
“We would like these businesses to generally be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to make two many years of yearly financial statements, Xesibe described in Parliament.
However, as an ongoing 6-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has disclosed, hijacked non-gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income corporations (NPCs) without economic monitor records have been utilized to make an application for funding.
In certain circumstances, almost similar monetary statements have been developed for unrelated organisations, normally with just the names of the organisations modified, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.
Documents submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications have been normally used by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The details and documents of the unsuccessful applicants were provided by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded an incredible number of rands in grants. Often extra tranches of money ended up compensated out without having much checking around the progress of projects.
The overwhelming majority of such grants ended up manufactured through proactive funding, which was at the center on the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Field and Competitors, or even the NLC together with its board, to identify results in to fund with no initial necessitating an software. This was stopped when a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants underneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at in excess of R2-billion, as well as device was still routinely getting suggestion-offs about a lot more corruption.
He advised MPs the SIU’s investigation had been damaged into 3 phases: the 1st, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also completed, associated R247-million. From the third section, resulting from 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 reported.
He mentioned which the SIU would use “before long” to the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, being prolonged to include procurement through the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced to this point led to 13 disciplinary referrals on the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Houses Commission to blacklist persons implicated from the looting. Problems involving two folks had been referred towards the Legal Observe Council as well as SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed several trends underneath the preceding NLC board and executive - most of whom are actually implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.
This integrated a “craze of collusion in between NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration from the acceptance of grants,” he mentioned.
Gradual development from the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, Attributes, cars together with other belongings truly worth tens of millions which were acquired with lottery cash, but MPs expressed worry at sluggish progress in prosecuting Individuals associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate belongings acquired with stolen state funds and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
Even though the SIU has referred 15 matters towards the NPA, to this point only two individuals have been introduced in advance of a court. Two Adult males appeared in court in Kimberley recently in connection with misappropriated resources collected for the project to beat gender-centered violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 many years in jail for his portion in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Fees against two persons billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” within the corruption that overcome the NLC, ended up dropped.
Significant-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for precedence offences, instructed MPs which the Hawks ended up now investigating sixteen lottery corruption-relevant situations. One more one particular - the Kimberley make any difference - is in advance of a courtroom and two have already been despatched for the NPA for a call to prosecute. An additional 5 scenarios are being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he reported.
Outlining The explanations to the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock mentioned Component of The main reason was the Hawks needed to do even further investigations once they received dossiers in the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out via the SIU will not satisfy criminal standards for prosecutions.”
Hence, the NPA experienced to work with investigators while in the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct criminal investigations and make sure that the proof meets prison prosecution criteria, he claimed, adding: “Having said that, the work with the SIU is very important and contributes enormously to this method.”
De Kock stated the SIU’s investigation “often leads to various referrals. The referrals may possibly in the long run bring about 1 docket and one particular courtroom scenario.”
He mentioned that 12 issues, which are “approximately eighty five% entire”, ended up staying jointly investigated via the Hawks and the SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Device. (The majority of these circumstances, 7 of which have been lodged in 2020, include previous NLC Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned below a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock stated the NPA faced quite a few “issues” in prosecuting situations. These, he mentioned, bundled
the lapse of time among once the offences were fully commited along with the issuing from the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Earlier this calendar year, the SIU instructed the committee that essential documents necessary in certain prosecutions were deleted from your NLC Laptop or computer program or experienced long gone lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of paperwork are archived and stored);
The reality that some implicated people today remain employed by NLC; and
A challenge towards the legality in the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is committed to making sure finalisation in these matters. To this conclude, a team of devoted prosecutors has long been allotted to supervise all NLC issues presently below investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are managed to be a priority. When [the] investigations are concluded, the NPA is likely to make a choice.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from one of several five companies accused by the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent annual money statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, one among TTP’s two directors, claimed within an e-mail in reaction to concerns: “As a consequence of consumer confidentiality, we need to advise that TTP Consulting just isn't ready to disclose clients’ economic private information and facts with the general public or media … without the consent in the customer or a legal reason.”
The organization can be a “associate” of numerous state entities, including SARS and also the CIPC, Based on its Web-site.
Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're both of those shown as inactive around the CIPC sign-up of providers, responded to emailed thoughts. The corporate continues to be deregistered with the CIPC for failing to post financial statements considering that 2021.
The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Company, Patrick Zulu, died a few years ago, Based on official documents. The corporation was deregistered via the CIPC for failing to post financial statements considering the fact that 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only real director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to thoughts emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services Along with the CIPC. We had been also struggling to trace any of the business’s administrators to ask for comment.