How lawyer allegedly spent Lottery millions meant for rehab on lavish lifestyle

Bank accounts belonging to a hijacked non-profit organisation (NPO), into which millions of rands in lottery grants were paid, appear to have been used by lawyer and Lottopreneur Lesley Ramulifho to help fund a lavish lifestyle.

Leaked bank statements for two accounts belonging to Denzhe Primary Care, a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre, reveal that besides building and construction-related payments, there are also multiple EFT and debit card payments that do not appear to be related to the NPO. Denzhe was funded by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to the tune of over R27.5 million.

Ramulifho and Liesl Moses, an employee at Ramulifho’s legal practice, who is also the mother of his child, are both signatories on the FNB and Nedbank accounts.

Denzhe’s FNB bank account, which had become dormant because of inactivity, reflected an opening balance of R68 in October 2016, according to the FNB bank statement.

On October 3, Ramulifho paid R100 into the account at FNB’s Olympus Plaza branch to reactivate it. Sixteen days later the NLC deposited R7.5 million, the first tranche of its grant to the NPO to build and run the rehab.

The following day, October 20, Ramulifho made two payments of R1,550,000 and R5 million for “site establishment”.

He also made several payments amounting to almost R275,000 to suppliers of building material between October 24 and 27.

The first payment to Ocean Basket from the NPO account was R264,240.34 on October 25, 2016 – referenced as “62 Ocean Basket Cam”. The second payment of R271,000 was made on November 23, 2016 and referenced as “OB Joining Fee”. The franchises Ramulifho purchased were at Carnival City casino and Carnival City Mall in Gauteng. Ramulifho claims this was a “loan” which has been repaid. But if it was repaid, it wasn’t into the same account.

Interspersed between payments to a variety of suppliers for building materials are cash withdrawals at ATMs and restaurant bills settled with Denzhe’s bank card.

By November 19, a month after the NLC’s first tranche of R7.5 million was paid, the balance in the account dropped to R4,375.56.

But within three days the second NLC tranche of R7.5 million landed in Denzhe’s account. Within days, amounts of R790,000, R130,000, R50,000 and R100,000 – all referred to as “refund” – were paid to unidentified recipients.

GroundUp has previously reported that the rehab is shoddily built, roofs leak, there are cracks in walls, and doors and windows do not fit properly. An existing lapa was converted into a sports centre by adding a corrugated iron roof and windows.

Payments totalling R80,000, marked “Sports centre” were made from the Nedbank account in April 2017. An independent quantity surveyor later found that the total value of work done was R4.8 million, leaving more than R20 million unaccounted for.

GroundUp earlier revealed how Denzhe and several non-profit companies linked to Ramulifho and some of his employees received at least R60 million in lottery funding for four different projects.

These were the Denzhe drug rehab centre, toilet facilities at rural schools in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, and a Limpopo-based project established “to provide infrastructure in order to advance sport, recreation and physical activity in communities across the country”.

An investigation by the NLC’s board found no proof of anything untoward with the Denzhe project. But in a letter to NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel raised concerns about the investigation. He said steps should be taken to recover the lottery funds and asked the NLC to pursue criminal charges.

Patel said: “In view of the two forensic investigation reports from your investigators, and in light of the investigation outcome, it is evident that the … funding was not used for the intended purpose”.

In response to detailed e-mailed questions, Ramulifho said: “You are in no position to be asking anyone in this country or any of my associates any questions, you are a bitter, a liar and disgruntled ex-beneficiary of NLC.”

The NLC has claimed that because Raymond Joseph served on the board of The Big Issue South Africa, which previously received lottery funding, he was a beneficiary of these grants.

All Big Issue board members serve in a voluntary capacity. Joseph has never been involved in any application to the NLC.

Ramulifho’s lawyer, KR Ellliot of Elliot Attorneys, subsequently sent a letter demanding that the source from which the bank statements were obtained be disclosed.

Referring to an unsuccessful urgent application for articles about Ramulifho to be removed from the websites of GroundUp, The Citizen and Daily Dispatch, he claimed that any story about the bank statements was “inappropriate” because of this pending litigation. It was also not “in the public interest”.

Shop until you drop, cash at an ATM:

The statements also reflect numerous “refunds” from the NPO’s bank accounts to unidentified recipients, usually soon after multimillion-rand deposits by the lottery.

• The leaked bank statements also list frequent cash withdrawals at ATMs ranging from R100 to R3,000.
• A common theme running through the statements are top-up deposits, ranging from R100 to a few hundred rands made by “Lesley Ramulifho” when the balance on the account ran low, seemingly to cover the cost of building materials, “construction wages” and other related expenses.

And then there were some big item tickets

Earlier payments of over R500,000 were made from the Denzhe FNB account for two Ocean Basket franchises in Gauteng. Ramulifho claims the money was a “loan” approved by the board of Denzhe, which he chairs, and has been repaid.

• Two payments of R85,000 were also made from the Nedbank account for pools. The statements reflect payments for “swimming pool” R30,000, and R55,000 to “infinity pool specialists”. There is a pool at the rehab that was renovated using Lottery funding.
• There are payments to a firm that builds and maintains tennis and basketball courts and for “sports field development”. None of these facilities exist at the rehab.

INFO

The rehab centre is just outside Pretoria. Yet there were payments in February 2018 related to a trip to Cape Town using Denzhe’s funds:

• Two payments to British Airways of R2,686.49 each and two payments of R1,986.09 each to South African Airways, all on February 2, 2018;
• R4,207.20 for a Comair flight the following day;
• R9,183.60 payment to “Westin Cap”, an apparent reference to the upmarket Best Westin Hotel, close to the V&A Waterfront, on the same day;
• R3,807.97 to “Nike V&A”, also on the same day;
• R24,185 at Isabelina, an upmarket decor outlet with a branch in Cape Town’s Waterfront, on February 5;
• R918 for a meal at Willoughby & Co in Victoria Wharf at the Waterfront.
• R37,607.63 and R29,596.53 on April 2017, and a further R60,000 four days later, for foreign currency purchases;
• R30,000 on April 13, 2017, for “sports field construction”;
• R2,298 at Old Khaki on April 29, 2017, and R3,830 at shoe outlet Shesha four days later;
• R25,000 paid to Afric Tennis Court, which builds and maintains tennis and basketball courts, on May 6, 2017;
• R1,052.00 and R259 at Forti Bar and Grill at Time Square in Menlyn, Pretoria, on July 3, 2017. The Denzhe bank card was also used to pay R10 for parking at the centre. On July 24, the card was again used at Forti for a R574 bill – and R10 for parking;
• R14,617 paid to “Porsche Centres” on July 6, 2017;
• R5,199 at Altitude Restaurant in Menlyn, Pretoria on July 10, 2017;
• R37,018.42 paid on July 6, 2017, plus R20,214 the next day at Hush Interiors;
• A bill of R451 at the Heat Grill Room on July 20, 2017 and R140 at Burger Perfect on August 12, 2017;
• On July 22, 2017, the card was used to pay R360.42 at Tops – Spar’s liquor outlets – in Mooikloof in Pretoria East. There are also payments to Spar, Pick ’n Pay and Woolworths.
• R35,527.63 and R4,694 on May 25, 2018 to Qatar Airways;
• R250 on February 8, 2018, and a further R180 on March 27 to Be 21 Hair and Beauty Salon, in Garsfontein, Pretoria;
• R1,899 at Gary Rom Hairdressing on July 7, 2017;
• R164,684 at upmarket decor outlet Decor Republic on February 11, 2017;
• R38,416 to Noks interior marked “decor chairs” on March 27, 2017;
• R599 to “Nike SA” on February 15, 2018;
• R305 for flowers at The Flower Shop in Pretoria on February 17, 2018;
• R100,000 to “Mehdi Carpets” on February 12 , 2018;
• R210 on March 3, 2018 and R385 on March 13 for “dry cleaning at Olympus Dry Cl” in Faerie Glen in Pretoria.

– GroundUp has published the article in partnership with The Citizen

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