A man who admitted to being part of a scam in which at least R1.2 million was stolen from officials and financially disadvantaged students at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has been sentenced to at least 18 years in jail by the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
According to National Prosecuting Authority Eastern Cape spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, 35-year-old Siyambonga Mhlakaza was facing charges of money laundering and 81 counts of fraud, which were treated as one.
Mhlakaza admitted to participating in a scam where money, which was meant for student allowances and academic officials’ salaries, was diverted to his bank account.
“In his plea explanation, Mhlakaza claims to have been approached by a WSU employee working at the Financial Aid Bureau section, who asked for his bank accounts to deposit funds in them. He said the financial challenges he faced then made him agree.
“Mhlakaza… admitted that he gave the person his banking details. Subsequently, deposits ranging between R6 000 and R89 000 were made into his accounts between April and June 2016,” Tyali said.
Some 81 students were affected by the scam and some were forced to drop out of university because of the financial challenges they faced.
Tyali said in terms of the money laundering charge, Mhlakaza admitted to transferring the fraudulently acquired money into his different bank accounts.
“He… transferred the money to different bank accounts he held with different banks to conceal and disguise the nature, source, location, disposition and movement of the money, which he spent for his benefit.
“The fraudster further confessed that he called Intelimali, a private company responsible for the distribution of allowance to students, and pretended to be a qualifying student who wanted to check allowances and change their banking details. Intelimali officials would then deposit funds due to these students in his different accounts,” Tyali said.
Tyali explained that the scam was exposed when the university investigated a claim by one student that her allowance had not been paid.
“The investigation revealed that funds from the Motsepe Foundation and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had been diverted to Mhlakaza and other persons.
“The subsequent investigation by the South African Police Service Provincial Commercial Investigation’s Sergeant Thembani Langeni led to Mhlakaza’s arrest in May 2021.
“He was arrested and charged with his accomplices, Nolufefe Matera, Sibongiseni Matshamba and Loyiso Siyo,” he said.
The trial against the other three is expected to be heard in the court in March.
They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Source: South African Government News Agency