The Unique Investigating Unit has determined five accounting companies that helped loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson
The Distinctive Investigating Unit has determined five accounting and auditing corporations that helped non-earnings companies loot Lottery income intended for “fantastic results in”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent money statements employed by these firms to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Performing chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe claimed the SIU would just take motion to own these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-year probe via the luckyvip77 Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing companies that served dodgy non-financial gain businesses loot countless numerous rands designed for “very good causes” through the Lottery.
These companies have been explained because of the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent financial statements” that were employed by the companies to apply for Lottery funding.
The 5 firms ended up named in Parliament through the SIU’s performing chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services.
Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting corporations assisted almost forty firms get their hands on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.
Determined by a Instrument that contains facts with all lottery grants because 2002, these corporations acquired about R314-million in funding.
“These NPCs had been funded via the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) although the resources were not applied for his or her intended reason,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Market and Level of competition Portfolio Committee previous week.
The SIU, the Hawks and also the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report back to the committee on progress in bringing people and organisations involved with looting the lottery to ebook.
Xesibe advised GroundUp which the SIU intended to lodge grievances from the accounting firms involved and was checking if these firms ended up registered and, if so, with which Skilled bodies.
“We would like these firms to be blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.
To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to deliver two a long time of annual financial statements, Xesibe explained in Parliament.
Nevertheless, being an ongoing six-calendar year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-revenue organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-gain firms (NPCs) with no economical track data were accustomed to submit an application for funding.
In some occasions, almost equivalent financial statements were made for unrelated organisations, generally with only the names in the organisations modified, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.
Documents submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs were normally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and documents with the unsuccessful applicants had been equipped by senior Lottery officials on the dodgy applicants.
With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded countless rands in grants. In some cases extra tranches of money ended up compensated out without Significantly checking within the progress of tasks.
The vast majority of such grants were being made via proactive funding, which was at the heart of your looting of your lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Market and Levels of competition, or perhaps the NLC together with its board, to identify results in to fund without very first necessitating an application. This was stopped any time a new NLC board was appointed.
R2-billion in grants underneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi mentioned the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at about R2-billion, and also the device was nevertheless consistently receiving suggestion-offs about much more corruption.
He advised MPs which the SIU’s investigation were damaged into three phases: the primary, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also finished, included R247-million. During the third stage, as a result of 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 stated.
He said the SIU would apply “before long” to the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to get extended to include procurement by the NLC.
The SIU investigation had to date led to 13 disciplinary referrals for the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Attributes Fee to blacklist individuals implicated from the looting. Problems involving two people had been referred towards the Legal Practice Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The SIU had observed several traits beneath the preceding NLC board and executive - most of whom have been implicated in looting - Mothibi instructed MPs.
This provided a “trend of collusion involving NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “normal maladministration within the acceptance of grants,” he said.
Sluggish development through the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, Qualities, autos and also other assets truly worth tens of tens of millions that were acquired with lottery funds, but MPs expressed worry at slow progress in prosecuting Those people involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate property purchased with stolen condition money and doesn't have prosecuting powers).
Though the SIU has referred fifteen issues to your NPA, up to now only two people have been introduced ahead of a courtroom. Two Adult males appeared in court docket in Kimberley a short while ago in reference to misappropriated cash collected for any venture to fight gender-based violence.
In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 several years in prison for his element in the R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses in opposition to two individuals billed with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” in the corruption that confused the NLC, have been dropped.
Significant-General Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for precedence offences, explained to MPs which the Hawks have been currently investigating 16 lottery corruption-related conditions. One more a person - the Kimberley make a difference - is ahead of a courtroom and two have already been sent towards the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra 5 scenarios are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic companies, he mentioned.
Detailing The explanations to the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock explained part of The rationale was that the Hawks had to do more investigations once they been given dossiers from your SIU.
“In essence, the investigations undertaken by the SIU usually do not fulfill criminal expectations for prosecutions.”
Consequently, the NPA had to work with investigators from the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out legal investigations and ensure that the evidence satisfies prison prosecution requirements, he reported, introducing: “Having said that, the work of your SIU is vital and contributes significantly to this process.”
De Kock reported that the SIU’s investigation “typically ends in various referrals. The referrals might in the end cause just one docket and a person court docket circumstance.”
He claimed that twelve matters, which might be “somewhere around eighty five% comprehensive”, have been getting jointly investigated through the Hawks and also the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Unit. (These types of instances, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, require former NLC Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned below a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria law firm Leslie Ramulifho.)
De Kock reported the NPA confronted a number of “challenges” in prosecuting cases. These, he reported, provided
the lapse of your time in between once the offences were being committed along with the issuing with the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this calendar year, the SIU told the committee that crucial documents desired in certain prosecutions were deleted from the NLC Pc program or had gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse in which copies of documents are archived and stored);
The point that some implicated people today are still used by NLC; and
A problem to the legality with the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to guaranteeing finalisation in these issues. To this conclusion, a group of focused prosecutors is allotted to oversee all NLC matters at this time under investigation,” de Kock mentioned. “Matters are dealt with for a precedence. As soon as [the] investigations are finished, the NPA can make a decision.”
What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only able to get remark from one of several five corporations accused via the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent yearly monetary statements,TTP Consulting.
Aubrey Moeng, certainly one of TTP’s two directors, claimed in an electronic mail in response to concerns: “Due to customer confidentiality, we want to recommend that TTP Consulting isn't prepared to disclose customers’ money confidential facts with the general public or media … without the consent of the consumer or a legal explanation.”
The company is often a “companion” of numerous condition entities, such as SARS as well as the CIPC, As outlined by its website.
Neither of The 2 directors of Dzata Accountants, who are the two outlined as inactive over the CIPC sign-up of organizations, responded to emailed queries. The company has been deregistered through the CIPC for failing to post economic statements since 2021.
The sole director of Mageba Ntuli Buying and selling and Consulting Service, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs back, according to Formal records. The organization was deregistered through the CIPC for failing to submit fiscal statements due to the fact 2021.
Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to issues emailed to him.
GroundUp was not able to discover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions with the CIPC. We were being also not able to trace any of the company’s administrators to request comment.