Culture

South African actress, Terry Pheto, linked with massive lotto fraud denies claims innocence

Published

1 year ago

November 5, 2022

World famous South African actress, Moitheri Pheto, popularly known as Terry Pheto, has denied any wrong doing after she was allegedly linked to fraud relating to funding by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).

The Special Investigating Unit (SUI) had, on Friday, obtained a preservation order from the High Court of South Africa to freeze Pheto’s assets estimated at R25 million while a probe into financial mismanagement and corruption at the NLC continues.

In a report by the SUI, Pheto, was among those implicated and who had been “prohibited from selling, disposing of, leasing, transferring, donating, or dealing in any manner whatsoever with respect to the immovable and movable properties”.

The SIU said nine luxury properties in Pretoria, Centurion, Hartbeespoort and Johannesburg, a BMW 420i and two ocean basket franchises in the East Rand with a combined value of approximately R25 million had been seized from the internationally renowned actress.

But in a response to the allegations, however, Pheto took to social media to deny the allegations, saying she has never been involved in any illegal scheme a the lotteries commission.

“I am dismayed to discover I am the subject of a SIU probe into allegations of fraud relating to funding by the National Lotteries Commission,” she said.

“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 had no sight of this order. I hold the law in high regard and will co-operate fully with this investigation in an open and transparent manner.

“This is a difficult time for me. I would like to thank everyone for their unwavering messages of support,” Pheto, who was a lead actress in an Oscar-winning feature film, Tsotsi, wrote.

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Culture

Egypt reclaims 3,400-year-old stolen statue of King Ramses II

Published

11 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Egypt has received a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II that was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three millennia a ago, the country’s Antiquities Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, the statue was stolen from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt more than three decades ago.

Head of Egypt’s Antiquities Repatriation Department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, who received the artefact said though the exact date the artefact was stolen is not known, the piece is estimated to have been stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

“The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but not on display. The artefact will be restored,” he said.

He stated that Egyptian authorities spotted the artefact when it was offered for sale in an exhibition in London in 2013 before it was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland.

“This head is part of a group of statues depicting King Ramses II seated alongside a number of Egyptian deities,” Abdel Gawad said.

King Ramses II is one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful Pharaohs. Also known as Ramses the Great, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.

“Egypt collaborated with Swiss authorities to establish its rightful ownership and Switzerland handed over the statue to the Egyptian embassy in Bern last year, but it was only recently that Egypt brought the artefact home, he added.

Culture

Ghana mourns as top gospel music icon Koda passes away

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Ghanaian entertainment industry has, once again, been thrown into mourning following the death of renowned gospel musician, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto, known professionally as Koda, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 46.

According to reports, the gospel music icon and producer died from a kidney-related condition he had been suffering from for sometime.

Koda, renowned for hit songs like “Hossana”, “Nkwaa Abodo”, “Nsem Pii” and “Adooso”, was also a producer of repute who gained fame for his inspiring compositions and his captivating, soul-stirring vocals that struck a chord with audiences nationwide.

A local media reports that he worked with a lot of Gospel musicians in Ghana and Nigeria including popular Nigerian gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey.