Deloittes Consulting - owned by global professional services group Deloitte - has become yet another victim of "hijacking" through flaws in the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro)'s electronic system.

Deloitte's reputation and risk consultant, Costa Qually, told I-Net Bridge that it was "fortuitous" that the company had had to remove one of its 37 directors in its consulting division last month.

"We then discovered that there was only one director instead of 37 as they had been electronically removed," Qually added.

The name as well the address of the "new director" proved to be false and up to now, the perpetrator of the "hijacking" has not been located.

The only remedy open to Deloittes was to seek a court interdict which has been granted.

"There is another hearing coming up in a week or two but it's a mere formality to restore the proper directors," Qually said.

He stressed that the company had not been compromised in any way.

"Fortunately there was no damage and assets hadn't been targeted."

However, Qually suggested that companies check their particulars with Cipro on a regular basis.

"Do a routine check once a month - just like you do with your bank account or credit card - it'll only take a minute or so."

With all the publicity surrounding the recent "hijacking" of mining company Kalahari Resources, Qually said people were being " a little bit more wary" when registering directorships with Cipro and the organisation itself now required "a bit more proof" before making changes to directorships.

Enhanced functionality

Last month Cipro issued a notification to all company directors informing them of its full implementation of "enhanced functionality" on the change of company directors (CM29).

"The enhanced functionality will mitigate the level of risk exposure that various companies are experiencing as it requires that e-mail communication be sent to the relevant directors and officers with a unique once-off code to unlock the company directors' profile," Lungile Dukwana, Acting Chief Executive Officer said.

He added that several requirements for lodging CM29 forms needed to be complied with before Cipro could accept changes for processing.

Certified copies of IDs or passports of the customer, directors and officers listed on the application page were now required by Cipro as well as a certified copy of the notice of the meeting and its minutes containing the resolution to change directors

Cipro also requested that a written mandate signed by the CEO and/or the Managing Director on a company's letterhead with the correct contact details be submitted.

Kalahari Resources

The organization has admitted that it learned about the case of multibillion-rand group Kalahari Resources when it was first published in the newspapers.

In September 2010, Daphne Mashile-Nkosi and her brother Amos Brian Mashile found that they had been removed as directors of Kalahari Resources and replaced by several others including controversial businessman Sandile Majali of "Oilgate" fame and two mental patents Harry Sferopoulous and Stephen Khoza.

Cipro has alleged that the changes made to Kalahari's directorships were electronically done by Sferopoulos.

The three along with two others have been charged with fraud in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court.

The trail has been postponed until January 18.

Mashile-Nkosi won a court application ordering Cipro to reinstate the original directors.