Bursary funds: two face trial
NMMU pair accused of R300 000 theft
ASENIOR Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) staff member and her former colleague must answer to criminal charges after they allegedly misappropriated bursary funds by allocating nearly R300 000 to their children and the family of their colleagues.
Lynette Heck, of Mount Pleasant, and Brian Gallant, who now works in Alice, will appear in court next month on a charge of fraud, or alternatively, theft.
Heck, NMMU’s senior financial aid officer, and Gallant, the head of the financial aid department at the time, allegedly stole close to R300 000 between January 2009 and December 2011.
Gallant is now employed as the dean of students at Fort Hare University in Alice. He left NMMU before the charges came to light.
An internal disciplinary process at NMMU towards the end of last year found 10 staff members guilty for their involvement in the alleged scheme. Heck was acquitted during the internal process and retained her position at the university.
Despite this, the university said yesterday she had agreed to repay monies received without prejudice to her rights.
The money was meant to aid deserving students to pay for their studies, but instead it was distributed among persons not entitled to receive money – with Heck and Gallant’s children among them.
They are expected to make a brief appearance in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court on July 10. A trial date has not yet been set. Advocate Tjaart van Zyl will prosecute.
NMMU spokeswoman Roslyn Baatjies said yesterday they were not aware that the two had been charged criminally.
“We do respect the independence of our prosecuting authorities,” she said.
According to the charge sheet, NMMU was the recipient of money from two funding institutions – the Manufacturing, Engineer- ing and Related Services Seta (Merseta) and the Milde McWilliams Trust.
The donation of the Milde McWilliams Trust was made on condition that bursaries were allocated to accounting, architecture, engineering, IT, law and nursing students.
Merseta stipulated that applicants must either be employed by a company registered with Merseta, or show a desire to work within the manufacturing or engineering field.
Heck and Gallant’s duties were to administer the allocation of the bursaries.
Heck’s daughter allegedly received an amount of R15 600, while Gallant’s daughter allegedly received R48 000.
A further R219 320 was allegedly distributed to other NMMU staff members and their children.