Helena Potgieter

Helena Potgieter is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting. She is a member of the Forensic & Litigation Consulting practice and is based in Johannesburg.

Helena is in the Forensic & Litigation Consulting segment and has had experience conducting investigations in many countries in Africa across various industries including retail, construction, healthcare, engineering and insurance.

Prior to July 2006, Helena practiced as a civil and criminal litigation attorney in both the Magistrates and High Courts. During her accounting articles, she gained experience in various industries including retail, construction, healthcare, engineering and insurance.

Since then, Helena has been involved in numerous forensic engagements, highlights include:

National Prosecuting Authority: The investigation involved the prosecution of more than 10 individuals employed by the Mangaung Local Municipality. Helena managed the cash flow reconciliations and evidence requests from the defence relating to 900 000 scanned documents which formed part of the investigation. Helena also assisted the prosecutor with the preparation of 150 prosecution witnesses. The evidence was presented in court in electronic format and Helena played an integral part in the presentation thereof;

National Prosecuting Authority: Helena was the project manager on the high-profile investigation into the affairs of a prominent businessman. She managed the investigation and was also responsible for the work streams involving revenue recognition and valuation of shares;

Project Clean Audit Free State: Helena was the project manager on the engagement. The project entailed performing transaction reviews and the investigation of specific transactions involving fraud and corruption over an extensive time period. On each occasion, Helena managed teams of investigators from a variety of disciplines and expert fields;

Investigated, on numerous occasions, in East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, UAE and Egypt in matters involving possible contraventions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and local corruption legislation;

Helena was responsible for the project management of a large Forensic Telecoms investigation, involving the breath of services offered in the forensic space. The team of investigators and subject matter experts managed, involved in excess of 40 full time staff members;

Investigated, on numerous occasions, in South Africa, East Africa, Zimbabwe and West Africa in matters (criminal and civil litigation) for the Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Mining sectors, the matters include the following areas and cover a multiple of multi-national telecoms operators in the mobile and fixed line business and global mining companies:

• Procurement – network and operational;
• Revenue accounting and recognition in both the prepaid and postpaid businesses;
• Airtime related fraud;
• Surface drilling in an open pit mine;
• Upstream oil; and
• Regulatory.

Helena was responsible for the management of a team of professionals developing an analysis model used in defending a class action matter against a major mining client;

Project Labadi: Helena was the project manager on the investigation in Ghana for one of the biggest oil companies, into possible duplicate payments and alleged procurement irregularities

Project Pula: Helena managed a team in Botswana for a State-Owned Company into alleged Supply Chain Management irregularities; and

Project Q: Helena managed a multinational team of 25 people in Zambia where the client was faced by an USD8bn claim for the alleged improper and irregular importation of plant and materials used in the establishment of a copper mining and processing plant as well as operational needs in country over a period of several years.