The Specific Investigating Device has identified 5 accounting firms that aided loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Exclusive Investigating Device has recognized five accounting and auditing companies that served non-income companies loot Lottery funds meant for “superior leads to”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent fiscal statements utilized by these providers to apply for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Acting Main nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe explained the SIU would just take action to possess these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-yr probe by the ตรวจ หวย ย้อน หลัง Distinctive Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing companies that aided dodgy non-gain businesses loot countless a lot of rands intended for “excellent leads to” from the Lottery.

These companies had been explained through the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent fiscal statements” which were used by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.

The 5 businesses have been named in Parliament via the SIU’s acting chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services.

Fraudulent financials produced by these 5 accounting corporations served nearly forty providers get their arms on lottery funding, in accordance with the SIU presentation.

Dependant on a Software that contains knowledge with all lottery grants considering that 2002, these organizations got around R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs ended up funded through the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) though the money weren't utilized for their supposed objective,” Xesibe instructed Parliament’s Trade, Business and Level of competition Portfolio Committee final week.

The SIU, the Hawks plus the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report to the committee on development in bringing individuals and organisations involved in 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 corporations were being registered and, If that is so, with which Qualified bodies.

“We would like these firms to get blacklisted,” she explained to GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to create two years of annual economical statements, Xesibe defined in Parliament.

Nevertheless, as an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-income organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-revenue companies (NPCs) without economical track documents had been accustomed to submit an application for funding.

In certain instances, Practically equivalent financial statements ended up developed for unrelated organisations, typically with just the names of the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation uncovered.

Documents submitted by real NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs had been typically utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The main points and paperwork on the unsuccessful applicants had been supplied by senior Lottery officers to the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - frequently - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded millions of rands in grants. Occasionally further tranches of cash have been paid out with out much examining over the development of jobs.

The vast majority of those grants were manufactured via proactive funding, which was at the guts of the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Sector and Competition, or perhaps the NLC along with its board, to determine results in to fund with no first necessitating an software. This was stopped when a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at above R2-billion, and the device was nonetheless often obtaining suggestion-offs about far more corruption.

He instructed MPs the SIU’s investigation had been broken into a few phases: the 1st, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also completed, associated R247-million. During the 3rd phase, as a result of 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 stated the SIU would utilize “quickly” for that Presidential Proclamation, originally granted in October 2020 to research corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be extended to include procurement through the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced to this point triggered thirteen disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission to blacklist individuals implicated within the looting. Complaints involving two people were referred to your Authorized Apply Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU experienced observed a number of traits beneath the earlier NLC board and govt - a lot of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This provided a “trend of collusion among NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “common maladministration from the acceptance of grants,” he stated.

Sluggish development via the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Homes, autos as well as other assets value tens of thousands and thousands that were bought with lottery funds, but MPs expressed concern at gradual development in prosecuting All those involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well assets acquired with stolen condition funds and doesn't have prosecuting powers).

Even though the SIU has referred 15 issues for the NPA, so far only two folks have been brought right before a courtroom. Two men appeared in courtroom in Kimberley lately in connection with misappropriated resources gathered for any challenge to fight gender-dependent violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 many years in prison for his portion inside of a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Charges towards two men and women charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” inside the corruption that overcome the NLC, had been dropped.

Main-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, instructed MPs the Hawks had been presently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-relevant circumstances. An additional a person - the Kimberley subject - is just before a court docket and two have already been despatched towards the NPA for a choice to prosecute. An extra five situations are increasingly being investigated through the SAPS detective and forensic products and services, he stated.

Detailing The explanations for that hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Countrywide Director Rodney de Kock reported A part of The explanation was that the Hawks had to do additional investigations once they obtained dossiers in the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations carried out via the SIU will not satisfy prison benchmarks for prosecutions.”

Thus, the NPA had to operate with investigators within the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform criminal investigations and make sure the evidence fulfills prison prosecution specifications, he reported, including: “That said, the do the job from the SIU is significant and contributes greatly to this process.”

De Kock mentioned the SIU’s investigation “generally brings about various referrals. The referrals may ultimately result in 1 docket and 1 court docket scenario.”

He explained that 12 issues, which happen to be “somewhere around 85% total”, were being currently being jointly investigated from the Hawks and the SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Unit. (Most of these scenarios, 7 of which have been lodged in 2020, contain former NLC chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned under a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria attorney Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock reported the NPA confronted numerous “troubles” in prosecuting cases. These, he mentioned, provided

the lapse of your time involving if the offences ended up fully commited plus the issuing of your Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this calendar year, the SIU explained to the committee that critical paperwork required in certain prosecutions had been deleted in the NLC computer procedure or had long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse where by copies of paperwork are archived and saved);
the fact that some implicated persons are still utilized by NLC; and
A problem to the legality on the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this stop, a staff of focused prosecutors continues to be allocated to oversee all NLC matters presently beneath investigation,” de Kock explained. “Matters are dealt with like a priority. Once [the] investigations are completed, the NPA could make a call.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get remark from among the list of five providers accused because of the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year economic statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, one of TTP’s two directors, reported in an e mail in reaction to concerns: “As a consequence of client confidentiality, we would like to recommend that TTP Consulting is not willing to divulge consumers’ money private information with the public or media … with no consent of your shopper or a legal reason.”

The company is a “husband or wife” of quite a few condition entities, which includes SARS and also the CIPC, Based on its Web-site.

Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, that are each outlined as inactive over the CIPC sign-up of businesses, responded to emailed thoughts. The business has been deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post economic statements considering the fact that 2021.

The sole director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 several years in the past, As outlined by official data. The corporate was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post fiscal statements due to the fact 2021.

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

GroundUp was unable to uncover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services with the CIPC. We ended up also unable to trace any of the corporation’s directors to request comment.