Net1 Announces Closure of FCPA Investigation by U.S. Department of Justice

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - July 27, 2017) - Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. ("Net1" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: UEPS) (JSE: NT1) today announced that its legal counsel has received a letter from the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section ("DOJ"), advising the Company that the DOJ has closed its investigation concerning possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). The letter received from the DOJ is available on the Company's website at http://ir.net1.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73876&p=irol-downloads.

The DOJ investigation commenced in November 2012, following the award of the SASSA national contract to the Company in January 2012. The investigation was initiated largely as a result of one of the losing bidders for the contract, Barclays Africa's subsidiary AllPay Consolidated Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd ("AllPay"), referring unsubstantiated South African press articles to the DOJ, alleging or implying that the SASSA tender process was tainted by corruption involving the Company's subsidiary, Cash Paymaster Services Proprietary Limited. These actions resulted in the DOJ and United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announcing investigations into alleged FCPA and disclosures violations on November 30, 2012.

On June 8, 2015, the Company received a letter from the SEC stating that it had concluded its investigation and that it did not intend to recommend an enforcement action against the Company. The receipt of the letter from the DOJ yesterday therefore concludes the United States government's investigation into this matter which commenced in 2012.

On February 14, 2013, the Company filed an application pursuant to Section 34 of the South African Prevention of Corrupt Activities Act in South Africa with the South African Police Service to investigate the allegations of corruption that were contained in certain newspaper reports. Section 34 deals with the reporting of suspected fraud, theft, extortion and forgery. In November, 2015, the Company received a written notice from the South African Police Service's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation ("the Hawks"), stating this case was investigated and the prosecutors assigned to the case declined to prosecute these matters. The Hawks closed the investigations in November 2015.