The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
The accountants who helped loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Specific Investigating Device has determined five accounting companies that helped loot Lottery resources. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Unique Investigating Device has determined five accounting and auditing firms that served non-income providers loot Lottery revenue intended for “excellent triggers”.
The accounting corporations compiled fraudulent economic statements employed by these firms to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU advised Parliament.
Acting Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe mentioned the SIU would take action to get these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe from the หวย หุ้น ช่อง 9 Specific Investigating Device (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing firms that aided dodgy non-revenue firms loot numerous millions of rands meant for “good leads to” in the Lottery.
These corporations were being explained with the SIU as “Experienced enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent monetary statements” which were employed by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.
The 5 corporations have been named in Parliament via the SIU’s acting Main 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 firms served almost forty firms get their hands on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.
According to a tool that contains details with all lottery grants due to the fact 2002, these organizations obtained over R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs have been funded via the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) though the cash weren't utilized for their meant function,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Market and Competitors Portfolio Committee final 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks and also the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) ended up in Parliament to report back to the committee on progress in bringing men and women and organisations involved with looting the lottery to ebook.
Xesibe advised GroundUp that the SIU meant to lodge complaints towards the accounting firms included and was examining if these companies have been registered and, if so, with which professional bodies.
“We want these organizations to become blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to generate two several years of yearly fiscal statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.
Nonetheless, as an ongoing 6-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income firms (NPCs) without any economical monitor data have been utilized to make an application for funding.
In a few circumstances, Pretty much similar economic statements were generated for unrelated organisations, frequently with only the names of the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation found.
Documents submitted by real NPCs for unsuccessful grant purposes had been usually used by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and paperwork of your unsuccessful applicants ended up provided by senior Lottery officers to your dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - typically - no verification, these dodgy applicants were awarded millions of rands in grants. From time to time extra tranches of cash were being paid out without the need of Substantially checking to the development of initiatives.
The overwhelming majority of these grants had been manufactured via proactive funding, which was at the center in the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Sector and Level of competition, or perhaps the NLC at the side of its board, to detect causes to fund with no initial requiring an software. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at around R2-billion, as well as the device was continue to often acquiring idea-offs about far more corruption.
He told MPs that 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 next, also completed, involved R247-million. Inside the third period, due to be finalised at the end of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi mentioned.
He mentioned which the SIU would implement “quickly” to the Presidential Proclamation, initially granted in Oct 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be prolonged to include procurement from the NLC.
The SIU investigation experienced thus far resulted in 13 disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Mental Attributes Fee to blacklist folks implicated during the looting. Grievances involving two persons were referred into the Lawful Observe Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed numerous developments beneath the preceding NLC board and government - many of whom are implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.
This provided a “pattern of collusion in between NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “typical maladministration during the acceptance of grants,” he explained.
Slow development because of the NPA
The SIU has frozen residences, Homes, cars as well as other belongings well worth tens of tens of millions that were purchased with lottery funds, but MPs expressed concern at slow progress in prosecuting All those involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to recover property purchased with stolen condition resources and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
Though the SIU has referred fifteen issues towards the NPA, to date only two individuals have been brought ahead of a courtroom. Two Gentlemen appeared in court in Kimberley not too long ago in connection with misappropriated resources collected for a job to battle gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 a long time in jail for his element inside of a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Fees versus two men and women billed with him, who the SIU has described as “kingpins” from the corruption that confused the NLC, were dropped.
Key-Typical Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for precedence offences, told MPs that the Hawks had been at present investigating 16 lottery corruption-associated cases. An additional one particular - the Kimberley issue - is just before a court docket and two are sent to the NPA for a choice to prosecute. A further five circumstances are increasingly being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic products and services, he explained.
Describing The explanations to the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock mentioned A part of The key reason why was that the Hawks had to do further investigations after they gained dossiers from your SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken with the SIU tend not to fulfill prison requirements for prosecutions.”
For that reason, the NPA had to work with investigators within the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform felony investigations and be certain that the evidence satisfies legal prosecution expectations, he said, including: “That said, the do the job with the SIU is significant and contributes tremendously to this method.”
De Kock stated the SIU’s investigation “usually brings about numerous referrals. The referrals may perhaps in the end bring about one docket and one particular court docket circumstance.”
He explained that twelve matters, which are “about 85% finish”, ended up remaining jointly investigated via the Hawks as well as the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Unit. (A large number of instances, 7 of which ended up lodged in 2020, require former NLC chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned below a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria law firm Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock claimed the NPA faced several “worries” in prosecuting scenarios. These, he stated, integrated
the lapse of your time in between once the offences ended up fully commited and also the issuing in the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Earlier this 12 months, the SIU explained to the committee that key files essential in a few prosecutions had been deleted in the NLC Laptop program or had long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse the place copies of documents are archived and saved);
The reality that some implicated men and women are still utilized by NLC; and
A obstacle to your legality in the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to ensuring finalisation in these issues. To this conclude, a crew of devoted prosecutors is allotted to oversee all NLC matters presently under investigation,” de Kock explained. “Issues are taken care of as being a priority. When [the] investigations are accomplished, the NPA could make a call.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from among the five organizations accused through the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year financial statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, one of TTP’s two administrators, explained in an electronic mail in response to concerns: “As a result of client confidentiality, we need to suggest that TTP Consulting isn't ready to disclose consumers’ financial confidential information and facts with the public or media … with no consent of your client or maybe a lawful purpose.”
The corporate is really a “lover” of quite a few condition entities, together with SARS and the CIPC, In accordance with its Internet site.
Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're each listed as inactive on the CIPC register of providers, responded to emailed thoughts. The business is deregistered by 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 3 several years back, In line with official information. The organization was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post money statements because 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, didn't reply to queries emailed to him.
GroundUp was unable to obtain any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services Using the CIPC. We were also struggling to trace any of the business’s directors to ask for remark.