A former North West University (NWU) professor appeared in the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of fraud and money laundering.
Nolutho Dkio, 58, who is now the dean of the faculty of Education at Walter Sisulu University’s Butterworth campus in the Eastern Cape, faces 12 counts of fraud and 11 of money laundering involving more than R500 000.
According to the Hawks, Diko, who was a North West professor and the director of the school of education management and leadership at the Mahikeng campus, was summoned to appear before court following investigations by the Hawks into alleged fraud committed from May 2016 April 2017.
“It is reported that while the accused was employed by the North West University, she allegedly failed to declare that she is a director and founding member of Fabued College Co-operative Limited.
“Unbeknown to the university, she allegedly submitted financial claims to the university under the name of her company, allegedly on behalf of external consultants and other service providers whom she alleged have rendered services to the university. Through investigations it was discovered that the service providers listed on the claim forms never rendered any services to the university,” Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso.
“The accused allegedly signed those claims without declaring her capacity and without indicating that she is an employee of the university. She reportedly later channelled some of the funds to her personal account,” Rikhotso added.
The case was postponed to 28 November for further investigation.
Source: News24, IOL, image from Twitter