Terry Pheto And Eight Others Implicated In Alleged Defrauding The National Lotteries Commission.
Leading actress in the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi, Terry Pheto, has denied involvement in the alleged fraud relating to funding the National Lotteries Commission (NCL).
On Friday, City Press reported that Pheto was among eight people, including two lawyers, an accountant, a hotel group chief executive officer (CEO) and a former commissioner of the NLC, to be investigated by Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in a multimillion-rand fraud scheme.
“This fraud scheme allegedly saw them obtaining properties through money fraudulently acquired from the NLC,” the report said.
According to City Press, the SIU was granted an order by the high court in Pretoria to seize nine luxury properties in Pretoria, Centurion, Hartbeespoort, and Johannesburg, pending the final determination of the application for final forfeiture.
In a statement on Saturday, Pheto said she was dismayed to discover that she was the subject of a SIU probe into allegations of fraud relating to funding by the NCL.
“I deny any involvement in the alleged scheme that has been reported on. I also had no prior knowledge of an application to obtain a preservation order against me and have no sight of this order,” she said.
Pheto said she holds the law in high regard and would cooperate fully with the investigation openly and transparently.
She has described this ordeal to be a difficult time for her.
“This is a difficult time for me. I would like to thank everyone for their unwavering messages of support.”
