The accountants who served loot the Lottery

The accountants who served loot the Lottery

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The Specific Investigating Unit has determined 5 accounting corporations that helped loot Lottery resources. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Specific Investigating Unit has identified 5 accounting and auditing firms that served non-profit companies loot Lottery money supposed for “excellent causes”.
The accounting corporations compiled fraudulent money statements used by these corporations to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU instructed Parliament.
Acting chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe claimed the SIU would take action to acquire these firms blacklisted.
A four-year probe by the luckyvip77 Special Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing corporations that helped dodgy non-earnings firms loot many countless rands meant for “fantastic causes” from your Lottery.

These companies were being described through the SIU as “Expert enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent monetary statements” which were used by the businesses to apply for Lottery funding.

The 5 firms were named in Parliament by the SIU’s acting Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They're TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies.

Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting firms helped virtually 40 providers get their palms on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.

According to a Software made up of info with all lottery grants considering that 2002, these firms received around R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs were being funded through the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) nevertheless the resources were not utilised for his or her intended purpose,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Business and Level of competition Portfolio Committee past 7 days.

The SIU, the Hawks plus the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing folks and organisations linked to looting the lottery to guide.

Xesibe told GroundUp which the SIU intended to lodge problems against the accounting corporations concerned and was examining if these firms have been registered and, If that's the case, with which Specialist bodies.

“We want these corporations to become blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to produce two decades of once-a-year monetary statements, Xesibe spelled out in Parliament.

Nonetheless, as an ongoing six-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-income organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-financial gain businesses (NPCs) with no economic track records were utilized to submit an application for funding.

In a few circumstances, Virtually equivalent economic statements were produced for unrelated organisations, usually with just the names from the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation identified.

Paperwork submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications ended up often employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and documents of the unsuccessful applicants had been equipped by senior Lottery officials on the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - generally - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded many rands in grants. Sometimes further tranches of funds were paid out out without having much examining about the development of tasks.

The overwhelming majority of those grants ended up created via proactive funding, which was at the center with the looting of your lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Market and Competitiveness, or even the NLC together with its board, to determine leads to to fund with out first demanding an application. This was stopped every time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi said the SIU was now investigating grants valued at more than R2-billion, plus the device was however frequently obtaining idea-offs about much more corruption.

He instructed MPs which the SIU’s investigation were broken into 3 phases: the primary, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the next, also done, involved R247-million. Within the 3rd period, as a consequence of be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Practically R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi reported.

He reported the SIU would apply “before long” to the Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to get prolonged to include procurement because of the NLC.

The SIU investigation had so far brought about 13 disciplinary referrals into the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission to blacklist men and women implicated during the looting. Grievances involving two persons were referred to the Lawful Observe Council and the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU experienced observed a number of traits beneath the earlier NLC board and executive - most of whom are actually implicated in looting - Mothibi instructed MPs.

This incorporated a “trend of collusion concerning NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “common maladministration within the acceptance of grants,” he claimed.

Slow development by the NPA
The SIU has frozen households, Qualities, autos and also other belongings worth tens of thousands and thousands which were acquired with lottery resources, but MPs expressed concern at slow progress in prosecuting These associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate belongings purchased with stolen condition money and does not have prosecuting powers).

Although the SIU has referred 15 issues to the NPA, so far only two folks have been introduced in advance of a courtroom. Two Guys appeared in courtroom in Kimberley just lately in reference to misappropriated money gathered for the venture to beat gender-based mostly violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 several years in jail for his aspect within a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Charges towards two people today charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” within the corruption that overcome the NLC, ended up dropped.

Significant-Standard Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, informed MPs that the Hawks had been presently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-linked conditions. One more a person - the Kimberley matter - is just before a courtroom and two are already despatched towards the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five instances are increasingly being investigated via the SAPS detective and forensic products and services, he mentioned.

Explaining The explanations for the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Nationwide Director Rodney de Kock reported A part of The rationale was which the Hawks needed to do even further investigations once they obtained dossiers through the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken with the SIU usually do not satisfy criminal 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 make sure the evidence fulfills criminal prosecution benchmarks, he claimed, incorporating: “That said, the operate in the SIU is essential and contributes drastically to this method.”

De Kock mentioned the SIU’s investigation “often leads to many referrals. The referrals may perhaps ultimately lead to one particular docket and just one court docket scenario.”

He claimed that twelve matters, which might be “roughly 85% total”, were being staying jointly investigated because of the Hawks and the SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Device. (These types of situations, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, require former NLC chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock reported the NPA faced many “problems” in prosecuting cases. These, he mentioned, involved

the lapse of time among if the offences were being committed as well as the issuing on the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Previously this calendar year, the SIU informed the committee that critical files desired in certain prosecutions had been deleted within the NLC computer method or had gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse where by copies of files are archived and saved);
The truth that some implicated folks remain employed by NLC; and
A obstacle into the legality with the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this end, a crew of focused prosecutors has long been allocated to supervise all NLC matters currently below investigation,” de Kock claimed. “Issues are taken care of as being a priority. The moment [the] investigations are finished, the NPA is likely to make a call.”

What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only capable of get remark from one of the five organizations accused because of the SIU in Parliament of manufacturing fraudulent yearly money statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, amongst TTP’s two administrators, mentioned in an electronic mail in response to thoughts: “Due to shopper confidentiality, we desire to suggest that TTP Consulting is not willing to disclose clients’ economical confidential facts with the public or media … with no consent of your client or maybe a authorized motive.”

The corporation is a “spouse” of quite a few state entities, which includes SARS as well as CIPC, In accordance with its Site.

Neither of the two directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be both equally stated as inactive about the CIPC sign up of firms, responded to emailed questions. The corporate is deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post economic statements because 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died 3 decades back, Based on official records. The company was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to post economical statements since 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the only real director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to questions emailed to him.

GroundUp was struggling to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies Along with the CIPC. We have been also struggling to trace any of the corporate’s directors to request remark.