The accountants who assisted loot the Lottery

The accountants who assisted loot the Lottery

Blog Article

The Specific Investigating Unit has determined five accounting corporations that served loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Unique Investigating Unit has determined five accounting and auditing companies that helped non-earnings firms loot Lottery dollars intended for “very good causes”.
The accounting corporations compiled fraudulent financial statements utilized by these providers to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU advised Parliament.
Acting chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe claimed the SIU would get motion to obtain these companies blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe from the ruay Special Investigating Device (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing corporations that served dodgy non-income companies loot many hundreds of an incredible number of rands designed for “great will cause” within the Lottery.

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

The five companies have been named in Parliament through the SIU’s acting Main national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies.

Fraudulent financials produced by these five accounting companies aided practically 40 corporations get their arms on lottery funding, in accordance with the SIU presentation.

Dependant on a Software made up of data with all lottery grants due to the fact 2002, these providers bought above R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs were being funded by the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) though the cash were not utilized for their meant objective,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Business and Opposition Portfolio Committee very last week.

The SIU, the Hawks plus the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing people and organisations involved in looting the lottery to e-book.

Xesibe advised GroundUp the SIU intended to lodge problems towards the accounting firms associated and was checking if these companies have been registered and, In that case, with which Specialist bodies.

“We wish these providers to generally be blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to generate two years of annual money statements, Xesibe discussed in Parliament.

However, as an ongoing six-calendar year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has discovered, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-profit providers (NPCs) with no fiscal monitor data ended up used to apply for funding.

In some cases, Virtually identical financial statements ended up manufactured for unrelated organisations, often with just the names from the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation uncovered.

Paperwork submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications have been generally utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The small print and paperwork in the unsuccessful applicants ended up equipped by senior Lottery officers to the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - often - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded a lot of rands in grants. In some cases supplemental tranches of cash have been paid out with out A lot examining about the progress of jobs.

The overwhelming majority of these grants were being designed by way of proactive funding, which was at the center of the looting on the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Market and Level of competition, or the NLC along side its board, to identify triggers to fund devoid of initially necessitating an application. This was stopped each time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants beneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi mentioned the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at over R2-billion, as well as unit was nevertheless routinely acquiring suggestion-offs about much more corruption.

He instructed MPs that the SIU’s investigation were damaged into three phases: the first, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also accomplished, associated R247-million. Inside the 3rd stage, as a result of be finalised at the conclusion of the calendar year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Practically R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi explained.

He said that the SIU would use “quickly” with the Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in October 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be prolonged to incorporate procurement from the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced to this point led to thirteen disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Mental Qualities Fee to blacklist people today implicated from the looting. Grievances involving two men and women had been referred towards the Legal Practice Council as well as the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed many trends beneath the earlier NLC board and govt - lots of whom are implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.

This integrated a “development of collusion in between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration within the approval of grants,” he mentioned.

Sluggish development via the NPA
The SIU has frozen homes, properties, vehicles together with other assets well worth tens of millions that were acquired with lottery cash, but MPs expressed worry at slow development in prosecuting These involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well assets purchased with stolen condition money and does not have prosecuting powers).

While the SIU has referred 15 issues on the NPA, to date only two people have been brought ahead of a court docket. Two Guys appeared in court docket in Kimberley recently in connection with misappropriated money collected for your project to fight gender-based mostly violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight years in jail for his part in a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Prices versus two individuals billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” during the corruption that overcome the NLC, have been dropped.

Key-Standard Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, informed MPs that the Hawks were being at this time investigating 16 lottery corruption-linked circumstances. One more one - the Kimberley issue - is before a courtroom and two are actually despatched into the NPA for a call to prosecute. An extra 5 situations are now being investigated via the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he mentioned.

Outlining the reasons to the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock said A part of The main reason was that the Hawks needed to do further investigations once they been given dossiers with the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken from the SIU don't fulfill felony requirements for prosecutions.”

Consequently, the NPA experienced to work with investigators during the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform legal investigations and make certain that the proof satisfies prison prosecution benchmarks, he mentioned, incorporating: “Having said that, the perform on the SIU is vital and contributes enormously to this method.”

De Kock reported that the SIU’s investigation “usually results in a number of referrals. The referrals may perhaps in the end result in 1 docket and one court docket scenario.”

He mentioned that 12 issues, that happen to be “about eighty five% total”, were being staying jointly investigated because of the Hawks along with the SIU’s Specialised Economic Operations Unit. (A large number of situations, 7 of which had been lodged in 2020, require previous NLC Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock reported the NPA confronted quite a few “worries” in prosecuting instances. These, he stated, incorporated

the lapse of time among when the offences were being dedicated along with the issuing on the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Previously this year, the SIU told the committee that essential documents necessary in certain prosecutions had been deleted with the NLC Laptop system or had absent missing from Metrofile, a warehouse wherever copies of files are archived and saved);
The point that some implicated folks are still utilized by NLC; and
A obstacle into the legality of the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to guaranteeing finalisation in these matters. To this stop, a group of devoted prosecutors is allotted to oversee all NLC issues at present under investigation,” de Kock reported. “Matters are taken care of for a priority. At the time [the] investigations are concluded, the NPA will make a decision.”

What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get remark from one of many 5 businesses accused because of the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent once-a-year financial statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, considered one of TTP’s two administrators, reported within an e mail in response to inquiries: “Resulting from consumer confidentiality, we desire to advise that TTP Consulting isn't prepared to divulge consumers’ monetary private facts with the public or media … without the consent with the client or maybe a lawful cause.”

The corporation is really a “lover” of a number of condition entities, together with SARS and also the CIPC, As outlined by its Web-site.

Neither of The 2 administrators of Dzata Accountants, who will be both listed as inactive on the CIPC sign up of providers, responded to emailed issues. The corporate has become deregistered through the CIPC for failing to post economical statements due to the fact 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died a few several years back, In keeping with official information. The company was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post financial statements considering that 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not respond to inquiries emailed to him.

GroundUp was not able to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services Using the CIPC. We had been also unable to trace any of the organization’s administrators to request comment.

https://javorka.online
https://ufabetsea.online
https://ufabetwine.online
https://ufabetsc.online
https://ufabethunter.online
https://ufawinbet.site
https://sagaming99.site
https://sagaming93.online
https://sagaming92.online
https://sagaming91.online
https://sagaming90.online
https://javbom.online
https://javcanna.online
https://javmini.online
https://javoops.online
https://javhubs.online
https://javep.online
https://javzooms.online
https://javporns.online
https://javbros.online
https://sagamings.online
https://huaylnw.shop
https://huayka.shop
https://huaynaja.shop
https://huay1.site
https://huay2.site
https://huay3.site
https://huay4.site
https://huay5.site
https://huay6.site
https://edeltanet.com