The Specific Investigating Unit has discovered five accounting corporations that helped loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Particular Investigating Unit has recognized five accounting and auditing corporations that helped non-gain organizations loot Lottery dollars supposed for “fantastic leads to”.
The accounting corporations compiled fraudulent financial statements employed by these businesses to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU informed Parliament.
Acting chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe reported the SIU would just take action to acquire these firms blacklisted.
A four-calendar year probe because of the ตรวจ หวย ลาว Particular Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing corporations that assisted dodgy non-gain providers loot countless an incredible number of rands meant for “fantastic causes” from your Lottery.

These companies were described because of the SIU as “Expert enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” which were used by the companies to make an application for Lottery funding.

The five providers ended up named in Parliament by the SIU’s performing 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 5 accounting companies helped just about 40 businesses get their arms on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.

Dependant on a Device that contains knowledge with all lottery grants due to the fact 2002, these businesses obtained more than R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs ended up funded via the National Lotteries Fee (NLC) but the funds were not utilized for his or her supposed function,” Xesibe advised Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Level of competition Portfolio Committee last week.

The SIU, the Hawks and also the Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing folks and organisations associated with looting the lottery to reserve.

Xesibe advised GroundUp the SIU meant to lodge grievances versus the accounting companies associated and was examining if these firms were being registered and, If that is so, with which Experienced bodies.

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

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to make two decades of once-a-year money statements, Xesibe stated in Parliament.

Nonetheless, as an ongoing 6-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income organizations (NPCs) without having money track documents had been utilized to make an application for funding.

In certain situations, Virtually similar fiscal statements were developed for unrelated organisations, normally with just the names from the organisations modified, GroundUp’s investigation uncovered.

Files submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant apps ended up normally employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to submit an application for funding. The main points and files with the unsuccessful applicants have been supplied by senior Lottery officers into the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - often - no verification, these dodgy applicants were being awarded numerous rands in grants. At times additional tranches of resources have been paid out without A great deal checking on the development of projects.

The overwhelming majority of such grants were manufactured via proactive funding, which was at the guts with the looting in the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Marketplace and Opposition, or maybe the NLC along side its board, to determine results in to fund with no to start with requiring an software. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was now investigating grants valued at over R2-billion, as well as the unit was still on a regular basis obtaining suggestion-offs about far more corruption.

He explained to MPs which the SIU’s investigation were broken into a few phases: the 1st, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the next, also done, concerned R247-million. During the 3rd phase, resulting from be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving forty NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi reported.

He stated that the SIU would apply “soon” for your Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in Oct 2020 to investigate corruption involving lottery grants, to become extended to incorporate procurement via the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced up to now led to 13 disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Mental Qualities Fee to blacklist persons implicated while in the looting. Complaints involving two people were referred for the Lawful Apply Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed several trends under the earlier NLC board and government - a lot of whom are actually implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This integrated a “pattern of collusion involving NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “common maladministration inside the approval of grants,” he mentioned.

Gradual development because of the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, Qualities, cars and trucks and other belongings well worth tens of hundreds of thousands that were bought with lottery cash, but MPs expressed concern at sluggish progress in prosecuting those associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property purchased with stolen condition money and does not have prosecuting powers).

Although the SIU has referred fifteen issues for the NPA, so far only two people have been brought in advance of a court docket. Two Adult males appeared in court docket in Kimberley lately in connection with misappropriated cash collected for the undertaking to overcome gender-based mostly violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to eight many years in jail for his part in a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Costs in opposition to two folks billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” inside the corruption that overcome the NLC, were dropped.

Big-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, instructed MPs the Hawks were now investigating sixteen lottery corruption-associated circumstances. A further one - the Kimberley issue - is in advance of a court docket and two have been despatched towards the NPA for a call to prosecute. An additional five cases are increasingly being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic companies, he said.

Detailing The explanations for that hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock explained part of The key reason why was that the Hawks had to do additional investigations every time they acquired dossiers in the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken by the SIU tend not to satisfy criminal specifications for prosecutions.”

For that reason, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out legal investigations and be certain that the evidence fulfills legal prosecution specifications, he stated, adding: “Having said that, the function of the SIU is vital and contributes significantly to this method.”

De Kock stated that the SIU’s investigation “often leads to multiple referrals. The referrals may possibly finally result in a single docket and a single courtroom scenario.”

He claimed that twelve matters, which might be “close to eighty five% comprehensive”, have been currently being jointly investigated with the Hawks as well as the SIU’s Specialised Financial Functions Unit. (The majority of these situations, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, entail previous NLC chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock reported the NPA faced many “difficulties” in prosecuting conditions. These, he stated, provided

the lapse of your time among if the offences were committed along with the issuing of the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this calendar year, the SIU explained to the committee that vital files essential in some prosecutions were deleted with the NLC Laptop or computer method or experienced absent missing from Metrofile, a warehouse where by copies of paperwork are archived and stored);
the fact that some implicated people today are still used by NLC; and
A problem for the legality of your Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to guaranteeing finalisation in these issues. To this finish, a staff of focused prosecutors is allotted to supervise all NLC issues currently beneath investigation,” de Kock reported. “Issues are managed to be a precedence. At the time [the] investigations are completed, the NPA will make a call.”

What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in the position to get comment from one of several five businesses accused with the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year economic statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two directors, claimed in an e mail in response to thoughts: “Resulting from consumer confidentiality, we need to advise that TTP Consulting is not really willing to divulge shoppers’ economic private info with the public or media … without the consent on the shopper or perhaps a legal explanation.”

The corporation is really a “associate” of various point out entities, including SARS and also the CIPC, Based on its website.

Neither of The 2 directors of Dzata Accountants, who are both listed as inactive on the CIPC sign-up of corporations, responded to emailed queries. The company has been deregistered via the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements given that 2021.

The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 many years in the past, As outlined by Formal documents. The corporation was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit financial statements because 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the sole director of Magodi Consultants, didn't respond to queries emailed to him.

GroundUp was unable to find any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services While using the CIPC. We were being also not able to trace any of the company’s administrators to request comment.