The accountants who served loot the Lottery
The accountants who served loot the Lottery
Blog Article
The Special Investigating Unit has determined five accounting corporations that aided loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Exclusive Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting and auditing firms that assisted non-revenue companies loot Lottery dollars supposed for “great will cause”.
The accounting corporations compiled fraudulent financial statements used by these businesses to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Acting Main nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe claimed the SIU would just take action to get these firms blacklisted.
A 4-yr probe from the หวย วัน นี้ Unique Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing corporations that aided dodgy non-income corporations loot many hundreds of many rands designed for “fantastic will cause” through the Lottery.
These firms were being described by the SIU as “Qualified enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent fiscal statements” which were utilized by the businesses to apply for Lottery funding.
The five providers had been named in Parliament with the SIU’s performing Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They're TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services.
Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting companies assisted virtually forty firms get their palms on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.
Determined by a Device containing information with all lottery grants given that 2002, these businesses got around R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs ended up funded through the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) though the money weren't employed for his or her supposed goal,” Xesibe explained to Parliament’s Trade, Market and Competition Portfolio Committee previous 7 days.
The SIU, the Hawks as well as Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing individuals and organisations associated with looting the lottery to e-book.
Xesibe advised GroundUp the SIU intended to lodge problems versus the accounting corporations included and was checking if these firms were registered and, If that's so, with which Experienced bodies.
“We would like these businesses to become blacklisted,” she explained to GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to produce two yrs of annual money statements, Xesibe described in Parliament.
However, as an ongoing 6-calendar year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-revenue firms (NPCs) without having financial monitor information have been accustomed to make an application for funding.
In a few cases, Just about similar economic statements had been made for unrelated organisations, frequently with just the names with the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation identified.
Files submitted by real NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications ended up usually employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and documents on the unsuccessful applicants were supplied by senior Lottery officials to the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded countless rands in grants. From time to time extra tranches of cash were being compensated out without the need of A lot examining about the development of initiatives.
The overwhelming majority of these grants were being created by using proactive funding, which was at the heart of your looting in the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Market and Opposition, or even the NLC in conjunction with its board, to identify leads to to fund without having initially necessitating an application. This was stopped any time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi explained the SIU was at the moment investigating grants valued at above R2-billion, as well as the device was even now consistently getting idea-offs about much more corruption.
He advised MPs the SIU’s investigation were broken into 3 phases: the initial, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also done, associated R247-million. In the 3rd period, resulting from be finalised at the end of the calendar year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Just about R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi claimed.
He mentioned which the SIU would use “shortly” to the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, to become extended to incorporate procurement by the NLC.
The SIU investigation had to this point resulted in 13 disciplinary referrals into the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Houses Fee to blacklist people implicated within the looting. Issues involving two people today were referred to your Authorized Follow Council plus the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU experienced observed several traits underneath the former NLC board and govt - a lot of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi informed MPs.
This included a “craze of collusion in between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration while in the acceptance of grants,” he mentioned.
Sluggish development by the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, Houses, cars and trucks and various belongings worth tens of hundreds of thousands that were bought with lottery resources, but MPs expressed issue at gradual progress in prosecuting Individuals involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property purchased with stolen point out funds and does not have prosecuting powers).
When the SIU has referred 15 matters towards the NPA, up to now only two folks have been introduced ahead of a courtroom. Two men appeared in court docket in Kimberley a short while ago in reference to misappropriated funds gathered for a task to overcome gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 several years in prison for his aspect in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses against two individuals charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” in the corruption that overcome the NLC, were being dropped.
Key-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, told MPs that the Hawks had been at the moment investigating 16 lottery corruption-associated instances. An additional a single - the Kimberley subject - is ahead of a court and two are despatched on the NPA for a decision to prosecute. A further 5 conditions are being investigated by the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he mentioned.
Explaining The explanations for your hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock explained A part of The rationale was which the Hawks had to do additional investigations whenever they gained dossiers with the SIU.
“In essence, the investigations carried out through the SIU will not satisfy criminal standards for prosecutions.”
Hence, the NPA experienced to operate with investigators from the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to conduct felony investigations and make certain that the proof meets legal prosecution expectations, he claimed, introducing: “Having said that, the work with the SIU is important and contributes drastically to this method.”
De Kock reported which the SIU’s investigation “generally ends in a number of referrals. The referrals may possibly in the long run cause a single docket and 1 court docket scenario.”
He explained that twelve matters, which can be “roughly eighty five% complete”, were being getting jointly investigated via the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Economic Operations Unit. (A large number of instances, seven of which have been lodged in 2020, require previous NLC chief working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock stated the NPA confronted a number of “issues” in prosecuting instances. These, he stated, bundled
the lapse of time in between once the offences had been dedicated as well as issuing with the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Previously this year, the SIU instructed the committee that important files required in a few prosecutions were deleted from your NLC Laptop or computer program or had long gone lacking from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of paperwork are archived and stored);
The point that some implicated individuals are still used by NLC; and
A obstacle to the legality from the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to making sure finalisation in these issues. To this conclude, a crew of devoted prosecutors continues to be allotted to supervise all NLC matters currently less than investigation,” de Kock explained. “Matters are managed like a precedence. The moment [the] investigations are finished, the NPA could make a decision.”
What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only capable of get remark from one of many 5 companies accused with the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent once-a-year monetary statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two administrators, stated in an e-mail in response to queries: “Resulting from shopper confidentiality, we need to recommend that TTP Consulting is not really ready to divulge clientele’ economic confidential information and facts with the general public or media … without the consent of the shopper or possibly a legal rationale.”
The corporate can be a “companion” of quite a few state entities, together with SARS along with the CIPC, according to its Internet site.
Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who are equally mentioned as inactive around the CIPC register of firms, responded to emailed thoughts. The company is deregistered through the CIPC for failing to submit economic statements considering that 2021.
The only director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Service, Patrick Zulu, died a few yrs in the past, In accordance with Formal data. The business was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to post economic statements since 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, didn't respond to thoughts emailed to him.
GroundUp was unable to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers with the CIPC. We have been also not able to trace any of the corporation’s directors to ask for comment.