Cape Town - The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced a 35-year-old man after he defrauded Walter Sisulu University (WSU) out of R1.2 million.
Siyambonga Mhlakaza was sentenced to 18 years on charges of money laundering and 15 years for 81 counts of fraud.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Mhlakaza pleaded guilty and admitted to being part of a scam that saw allowances meant for financially disadvantaged students and salaries of academic staff diverted to his personal bank accounts.
The investigation into the matter revealed at least 81 students, some of who ended up dropping out of university due to financial challenges, were affected.
In his plea explanation to the court, Mhlakaza claimed he was approached by an employee of the WSU, who worked within the financial aid bureau department, who asked for his bank account details to deposit funds.
He claimed that financial struggles from his side made him agree to the concept.
Mhlakaza, a Rhodes University Bachelor of Pharmacy dropout, has not given the identity of the WSU employee but admitted he gave his banking details to the individual, which led to deposits ranging between R6 000 and R89 000 being made into his bank accounts between April and June 2016.
He admitted to the court that he transferred the money received into different bank accounts to conceal, disguise the nature, source, location, disposition and movement of the money, which he spent on himself.
He further confessed to calling Intelimali, a private company responsible for the distribution of allowances to students, and pretended to be a qualifying student who wanted to check allowances and change their banking details.
Intelimali officials would then deposit the funds of these ‘students’ into the different accounts, as provided by Mhlakaza.
The university launched an investigation after the alarm was raised by one of the students who did not receive their allowance.
The court heard that 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 South African Police Service (SAPS) investigated the matter, and this led to Mhlakaza’s arrest in May 2021.
He was arrested and charged alongside his accomplices, Nolufefe Matera, Sibongiseni Matshamba and Loyiso Siyo.
His co-accused have pleaded not guilty and are expected to go on trial in March 2022.
State prosecutor Advocate Ncedo Buso told the court not a single cent of the money defrauded and laundered by Mhlakaza had been recovered and implored the court to sentence him directly to prison with a sentence no less than 15 years.
He also submitted to the court that Mhlakaza’s guilty plea was not a sign of remorse but rather a need as he saw the evidence against him was overwhelming.
During sentencing, Magistrate Shylock Ndengezi agreed with Buso and warned WSU officials who were seated in the courtroom’s public gallery that the mastermind behind the scam was still unknown and within their midst.
Ndengezi told Mhlakazi that his conduct had far-reaching, devastating consequences to the future of poor students.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the fraudster has a previous conviction for shoplifting and welcomed the sentence imposed on Mhlakaza.
“We hope it will serve as a deterrent to other would-be white-collar criminals,” it said.
IOL