Justice Minister Ronald Lamola's Law Firm Drops the Ball in Lottery Fraud Investigation
- Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola has found himself in the middle of a scandal in relation to a law firm he was director of
- Lamola was director of a firm that was hired by the National Lotteries Commission to investigate fraud
- It has been found that the law firm Ndobela Lamola Inc is said to have submitted three reports that were filled with falsified documents
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A probe into forensic documents into reports submitted by a highly acclaimed law firm for the National Lotteries Commission to examine lottery financing fraud has found that the reports are filled with forged papers.
The law firm in question is Ndobela Lamola Inc, which the Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola was the director of when the forgeries were submitted, according to the Daily Maverick.
In 2018, GroudUp released a report that revealed how Denzhe Primary Care non-profit company was used fraudulently to apply for funding worth millions of rands from Lotto in the guise of building a rehabilitation centre near Pretoria.
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The rehabilitation centre was never finished and only R7.5 million of the R27.5 million has been accounted for thus far.
Investigations revealed that the company that was awarded the construction contract belonged to Phillemon Letwaba's brother. Letwaba was the Chief Operating Officer of the National Lotteries Commission at the time.
Justice Minister's law firm Ndobela Lamola Inc was then hired by the National Lotteries Commission to investigate the allegations of fraud as well as investigate Denzhe Primary Care's dealings.
The law firm submitted three reports to two successive trade and industry ministers that contained fake affidavits, a falsified yearly financial statement and forged Denzhe Primary Care resolutions.
The report also claimed that Denzhe Primary Care's founding directors had resigned and the newly appointed directors were responsible for 'hijacking' the company, according to News24.
Although Lamola resigned as director of Ndobela Lamola Inc in 2019, two of the reports that were submitted were drawn up while he was director.
The law firm insists that the company was unaware that they were dealing with forged documents and had relied on the legal capacity of individuals involved.
Concerns have been raised about the quality of the report because documentation was not thoroughly examined during a forensic investigation. It was also noted that there are other conspicuous omissions in the reports.
Ronald Lamola-linked law firm allegedly defrauded the RAF of about R2m
Previously, Briefly News reported a law firm linked to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola is in trouble with the law after allegedly failing to get away with defrauding the Road Accident Fund (RAF) of at least R2 million.
The name of the firm, Ndobela and Lamola Inc, appeared in a leaked letter dated 5 March this year. The letter was written by the RAF to the Legal Practice Council. It showed that the Lamola-linked company was among firms that had allegedly defrauded the state entity.
IOL News reports that RAF has been defrauded of more than R300 million. The publication revealed that Ndobela and Lamola Inc made two quick payments of the money on 16 March after the letter was leaked.
The firm accused the RAF of "creating a storm in a teacup" and claimed the matter had been resolved. The publication added that RAF spokesperson William Maphutha denied the matter had been settled. He said the agency would verify the payments made.
Lamola's spokesperson Chrispin Phiri tweeted a statement denying that the minister was involved in the matter. Chrispin captioned his post:
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Source: Briefly News
