THE SPECIALISED
COMMERCIAL CRIME UNIT
AN OVERVIEW
MAY 2008
ADV CHRIS JORDAAN, SC
1
INDEX




Background
Who are we?
Where do we fit into the structures?
What cases do we do?
2
INDEX (CONT)
How do we do our work?
 Our achievements 2002/3 to date
 Recent achievements
 Trends/ challenges
 Annexures:
A- Monitoring tools
B- Improvement Plans

3
BACKGROUND


Established on 1 August 1999 as a pilot
project to combat the deteriorating
situation pertaining to commercial crime.
Starting operations in Pretoria, it soon
proved to be so effective that it was
decided to roll the Unit out countrywide.
4
BACKGROUND (CONT)
Some of the objectives of the initiative
were:





Specialisation
Co-location of prosecutors and investigators
Dedicated courts
Substantially increase number of cases
processed
Reduce cycle times
5
WHO ARE WE?
Our mandate:
•
•
We are specialist prosecutors within the
National Prosecuting Authority
We are dedicated to the prosecution of
complex commercial crime cases
6
WHO ARE WE? (CONT)




Establishment : 169 posts & 7 contract posts
Regional Offices at Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape
Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Durban and
attached office of PE in East London
Pretoria also serves Polokwane and Mpumalanga
Majority of prosecutors are Senior State
Advocates
7
WHO ARE WE? (CONT)


We also provide services to some regions,
either by a prosecutor on site or
prosecutor going on circuit
Our contract prosecutors deal with RAF
matters and counterfeit matters
8
WHO ARE WE? (CONT)


We mostly prosecute in the Regional
Courts
Prosecutions in the High Court and District
Court not excluded
9
Where do we fit into the structures?
NPA Structure
NDPP i
CEO
CS
Strategy & Risk
AFU
DSO
NPA
NSSD
IMU
PCLU
WPU
Communication
SCCU
Adv C Jordaan
SOCA
i
10
Where do we fit into the
structures?
Partners
NDPP
NSSD
DEPUTY NDPP
Steering
Committee
Commercial Branch
Provincial Head
Regional
Court
President
MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE
SPECIAL DIRECTOR
OF PUBLIC
PROSECUTION
SCCU
CCU
Unit.
Syndicate
Fraud
Unit
Fraud
Unit
COMMERCIAL BRANCH
Fraud Unit
Fraud Unit
Fraud
Unit
Prosecutors
Courts
Process
Scheduling &
Management,
Admin &
Finance
11
Where do we fit into the
structures? Partners
MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE
PROSECUTION
INVESTIGATION
OPERATIONS
OPERATIONS
PROFESSIONAL
PROFESSIONAL
PERSONNEL
PERSONNEL
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATION
12
WHAT CASES DO WE DO?
(SAPS MANDATE)


We prosecute complex commercial crime
cases investigated by the Commercial
Branch of the South African Police Services
in dedicated courts
We obtain our cases thus mostly through
SAPS Commercial Branch’s mandate
13
WHAT CASES DO WE DO?
(SAPS MANDATE)



However the SCCU will attend to any complex
commercial crime matter brought to its attention
in the area where it is operational
General rule – only serious commercial
crime (Regional Court matters)
Directive of DPP as to forum of cases (DC
or RC) serves as a guideline
14
The Mandate of SAPS Commercial
Branch
The mandate of SAPS Commercial Branch :



Statutory offences relating to legislation under diverse areas,
from Banking and Currency to E-Crime
Common-law offences
All common-law offences pertaining to the statutes dealt with by the
branch , including fraud and theft
15
The Mandate of SAPS Commercial
Branch
Other fraud-related crimes:
 counterfeit banknotes, and the
counterfeiting of legal tender
Theft:
 Trust monies
16
The Mandate of SAPS Commercial
Branch
Fraud:
 Relating to company or close corporation,
double discounting of instalment sale
agreements, “factoring”, stock exchange,
Computer related, Internet related, stolen
cards, State Institutions, fiduciary capacity
17
The Mandate of SAPS Commercial
Branch


White-plastic, clone cheques,
counterfeiting and uttering of credit, debit
and petrol cards.
Kite-flying, which is the unlawful
generating of funds in bank accounts by
means of depositing stolen or worthless
bills of exchange
18
WHAT CASES DO WE DO?
OTHER


In discretion of Head of the Unit/delegates
to accept matters outside of SAPS
Commercial Branch mandate, e.g. upon
request of another unit
NDPP exercises discretion and may
allocate certain matters, e.g. prosecution
of NPA-members in other units
19
HOW DO WE DO OUR WORK?







Joint planning & problem solving
Specified focus areas
Location
Team work
Case planning
Prosecutor guided investigation
Monitoring & evaluation
20
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
JOINT PLANNING & PROBLEM
SOLVING



We work jointly with the police and other
stakeholders, e. g. Banking Industry,
Business Against Crime, Road Accident
Fund, etc
We have procedural guidelines, accepted
by all
We have scheduled strategic & operational
meetings, attended by all
21
HOW DO WE DO OUR WORK?
OUR FOCUS AREAS
SPECIALISATION
COMMITMENT
(Investigation & Prosecution of CC)
(Dedicated Focus)
FOCUS AREAS
EXPERIENCED
PEOPLE
(Capacity Building)
EFFECTIVE PROCESSES
(Optimal operational efficiency &
effectiveness)
22
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
LOCATION


We mostly share premises with the SAPS
Commercial Branch
We prosecute our cases in dedicated
Regional Courts, usually located at/near
our premises
23
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
TEAM WORK



A prosecutor and investigator are allocated
right at beginning of a case
They work together as a team throughout
the case
Co- location contributes to efficacy of
relationship
24
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
TEAM WORK




The Prosecutor guides the investigation
The Prosecutor and Investigator however
operate independently and are
functionaries in their own right
Involvement of prosecutors in the
investigation not allowed
The Prosecutor does not lead the
investigation
25
HOW DO WE DO OUR WORK?
TEAMWORK
Dr J A van S d’ Oliveira SC
 “A prosecutor must be TASK TEAM
ORIENTATED. There must be a joint prosecutor
– police collaboration from the outset. This is the
recipe for success.”
26
HOW DO WE DO OUR WORK?
TEAM WORK
Case plan



The prosecutor and investigator jointly draft a case plan,
setting out what needs to be done, by whom and when
They monitor progress by regular follow up meetings
The guidelines aligns target dates to tasks
27
CASE PLANNING
Investigation
Phase
Prepare for Trial
The TRIAL
Post Trial
Review
Consult key
witnesses
Resp. Pros.
Date by dd. mm
Court
Proceedings
Resp. Pros
Trial date
dd. mm
Finalise
Docket
Resp. IO
Date by: 7
days
Prepare charge
sheet
Resp. Pros.
Date by dd. mm
Consultations
Heads of
Agreement,
etc.
Update
records
Resp. IO
Date by: 7
days
INVESTIGATOR
PLANNING
MEETING
PROSECUTOR
EXTERNAL
SPECIALIST
Plan
activity
Agree
resp.&
target
dates
TEAM FOCUS
Witness
Statements
from..
Resp IO
Date by dd.mm.
Bank
Statements
from..
Resp IO
Date by dd.mm.
Arrest Suspect
Resp. IO
Date by dd. mm
Subpoena
Witnesses
Resp. IO/Pros.
Date by dd. mm
28
CASE PLANNING
SCOPE OF THE PROCESS
INVESTIGATOR
EXTERNAL
SOURCES
Eg. NDPP other
Provinces,, etc.
AFU
FORMAL
WORKING
RELATIONSHIP
Unit
Commander
allocates case
to Investigator
NEW
CASES
INITIAL
investigation
to enable Unit
Cmdr
to assess
whether
“there is a
case”
CASES
CLOSED
Cases
Reviewed
by Unit
Mgt.
PROSECUTOR
SCCU Cases
Investigator +
Prosecutor +
External Spec
Team Appt.
TEAM
Investigates
case and
Prepares for
Trial
THE
TRIAL
The
Post Trial
REVIEW
PLAN
Investigation
& Delegate
Tasks
NON-SCCU
CASES
CASES
NOLLE
PROSECUI
MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED
29
HOW DO WE DO OUR WORK?
MONITOR & EVALUATE


The process is monitored by supervisors
on an electronic case register
Regular operational and strategic meetings
with all stakeholders are held
30
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS 2002/3 TO
2006/7
Number of courts increased by
241.7%
 Number of convictions increased by
435.3%
 Conviction rate averaging 95%

31
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS 2002/3 TO
2006/7
Cases enrolled for trial increased by
251.9%
 Cases finalised increased by 158, 2%

32
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS 2002/3 TO
2006/7




Major cases resulting in convictions and
long prison sentences
E.g. In 2006/7 direct imprisonment in 134
cases
Good court hours: in 2006/7 averaging
4h34
Model environment for development of
similar prosecutor guided initiatives
33
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS


The SCCU devised compliance monitoring
tools for 13 selected policies and
monitored compliance over a year to
obtain baselines
The SCCU selected 7 priority governance
areas, implemented improvement plans
and increased the combined governance
index score by 28,75%
34
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS




The SCCU actively managed risk by
allocating a risk manager and
implementing risk mitigation plans
The SCCU concentrated on properly
managing the relationships with
stakeholders, employees, other units
A stakeholder survey was held
An employee satisfaction survey was held
35
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS



Baselines were obtained and plans to
increase satisfaction levels drafted
The SCCU made a concerted effort to
engage with the community; all offices
had several projects
Joint targets were set with the AFU and
exceeded
36
2007/2008
COURT HOURS
PTA
JHB
PE
DBN
BLOEM
CAPE T
APR 08
06/07
05/06
04/05
04:04
04:17
04:42
04:40
03:52
03:54
04:14
04:34
4.94
4.69
ENROLLED
303
444
256
452
136
260
1851
1184
1431
935
OUTSTANDING
235
312
129
323
107
109
1215
1163
1056
843
CONVICTIONS
329
198
188
310
88
119
1232
1515
857
653
SENTENCES
319
210
174
305
84
119
1211
1485
916
635
ACQUITTALS
18
24
10
2
4
19
77
53
47
36
94.81%
89.19%
94.95%
99.36%
95.65%
86.23%
94.12%
96.62%
94.63%
94.78%
226
205
15
138
8
63
655
343
268
213
55%
40%
65%
61%
51%
52%
53.95%
55.80%
105 A
29
31
4
14
8
67
153
537
171
90
CASE LOAD PP
49
61
45.1
80
43
92
74.02
73.22
59.5
63.41
Turnaround court
(days)
263
454.31
285
206
222
129
238.39
233.83
302.08
Turnaround all
(days)
349
433.73
287
265
233
80
274.62
253.31
244.72
177
Cases received
588
987
480
805
293
1206
4359
3423
2823.00
3077
Cases finalised
747
768
355
631
158
372
3031
3574
2271.00
1772
Nolle prosequi
184
329
156
186
62
171
1088
1693
1035.00
In Custody >6M
28
12
6
3
5
7
61
92
In Custody >2Y
4
12
1
0
0
0
17
10
32
19
10
47
5
1
114
0
CONVICTION RATE
WITHDRAWALS
> 6MONTHS
PP for inv
NA
NA
NA
37
TRENDS
Decrease in Court hours :
- Permanent Magistrates not given by DoJ as
promised
- Rotating of magistrates, which influences
continuity of cases and requires fragmentation of
staff in different courts
-The type of cases enrolled are more complex
-A tendency for less pleas and more trials have
developed.
38
TRENDS
Consistently high conviction rate
High withdrawal rate:
- This can be attributed to a clean out
session relating to the RAF project
held during the year
- Reasons for withdrawals are
supplied on an ongoing basis and
monitored
39
TRENDS
 Decrease in Section 105A pleas
- Accused are electing to take their chances in court
 Steady increase in Case loads of prosecutors
- Continually monitored and addressed
 Steady Turnaround times of matters on the role

Turnaround times of all cases (on role and not on role) are slightly
higher than before, but not a matter of concern
 Increase in number of cases received
- Roll out of the Bloemfontein and Cape Town offices
- Stakeholder programs which have created trust in the abilities of
the Unit
 Less cases were finalised in total. There were many vacancies
in this period.
 Less cases were finalised by way of nolle prosequi, and
more enrolled
40
CHALLENGES



To increase access to our services
To create a pool of prosecutors who are
specialists in the prosecution of commercial
crime
To investigate how we can deliver a service from
district court level up
41
THE SPECIALISED
COMMERCIAL CRIME UNIT
THE END
42
ANNEXURE A
MONITORING TOOLS













Asset Management
Conditions of Service
Employee Wellness
Performance Management
Petty Cash
Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities
Sexual Harassment
Smoking
Supply Chain Management
Telephone and Cellular
Termination of Service
Theft and Losses
Vehicle Management
43
ANNEXURE B
IMPROVEMENT PLANS
Priority Governance Areas:
 Risk Management
 Performance Management
 Stakeholder Management
 Policy Management
 Financial Management
 Strategic Management
 Information Management
44