Rustenburg - Former head of engineering services at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) Daniel Mshushisi Mthimkhulu was convicted on three counts of fraud on Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
NPA spokesperson in Gauteng Phindi Mjonondwane said Mthimkhulu was convicted at the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting, in Palm Ridge.
“Mthimkhulu was charged with nine counts of fraud for allegedly misrepresenting his qualifications to Prasa, claiming among others, to have acquired a Masters degree from the University of Witwatersrand, as well as a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the Technische Universitat Munchen (Munich Technical University) in Germany,” she said.
Mjonondwane said, as a result of this misrepresentation, the rail agency suffered prejudice in that Mthimkhulu’s annual salary hiked from R1.6 million, as executive manager heading the engineering services, to R2.8 million.
“In June 2010, he lied to Prasa about a job offer received from a German engineering firm, for a position as an engineering services specialist, at a salary of R2.8 million per annum. Consequently, Prasa made Mthimkhulu a counter-offer in September 2010 at a salary of R2.8m,” said Mjonondwane.
She said advocate James Bhengu from the NPA's Specialised Commercial Crime Unit argued that Prasa suffered prejudice, as it was induced into employing and keeping Mthimkhulu in its employment, under a false and fraudulent profile, asking the court to reject his version that his Curriculum Vitae (CV) was manipulated by a third party.
The case was postponed to February 24 for transcripts of proceedings, as a new regional magistrate would be taking over the sentencing proceedings.
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