The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced Siyambonga Mhlakaza, 35, for siphoning R1.2-million from the Walter Sisulu University (WSU).
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said today that Mhlakaza was sentenced to 18 years in jail for money-laundering. He also received 15 years for 81 counts of fraud, which were treated as one. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Mhlakaza pleaded guilty to the charges, admitting to having been part of a scam that diverted allowances for financially disadvantaged students and salaries of academic staff to his bank accounts.
At least 81 students, some of whom ended up dropping out due to financial challenges, were affected.
In his plea explanation, Mhlakaza is said to have been approached by an employee at the university’s financial aid bureau, who asked for his bank accounts to be used to deposit the funds. He said he was drawn into the scam because of personal financial challenges he faced at the time.
A Rhodes University’s Bachelor of Pharmacy dropout, Mhlakaza has not revealed the name of the WSU employee who introduced him to the scam, but admitted that he willingly handed over his banking details to the employee at the financial aid bureau.
Subsequently, money deposits between R6 000 and R89 000 were made into his accounts between April and June 2016.
Mhlakaza further acknowledged that he transferred the money to the bank accounts he held with various banking groups to conceal, 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 allowances to students, and pretended to be a qualifying student who wanted to check students’ allowances and change their banking details.
Intelimali officials would then deposit the funds due to these students in his accounts.
The WSU launched an internal investigation after an alarm was raised by one of the students whose allowance was not paid into her account. The investigation revealed that the funds from the Motsepe Foundation and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme had been diverted to Mhlakaza and other persons.
A subsequent investigation by Sergeant Thembani Langeni, from the SAPS provincial commercial investigation, led to Mhlakaza’s arrest in May 2021. Following his arrest, Mhlakaza was charged with his accomplices – Nolufefe Matera, Sibongiseni Matshamba and Loyiso Siyo.
The trio has pleaded not guilty and their trial, which is due in court on March 16, has been separated from Mhlakaza’s.
State prosecutor, advocate Ncedo Buso, implored the court to sentence Mhlakaza to an imprisonment term of not less than 15 years, arguing that the money defrauded and laundered by Mhlakaza had not been recovered.
Buso added that Mhlakaza’s admission of guilt was not a sign of remorse, but that the accused saw the evidence against him was overwhelming.
Handing down the sentence, magistrate Shylock Ndengezi agreed with the prosecutor and warned WSU officials in the gallery that the mastermind behind the elaborate scam is still unknown and within their midst. This because Mhlakaza is refusing to reveal the person’s identity.
“Your conduct had far-reaching devastating consequences to the future of poor students,” Ndengezi told Mhlakaza, who has a previous conviction of shoplifting in Makhanda.
The NPA welcomed the sentence. “We hope it will serve as a deterrent to other would-be white-collar criminals,” it said.
Also read: Student Sibongile Mani – Guilty for stealing NSFAS money
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