Former PRASA engineering boss gets 15-year jail term for fraud

JOHANNESBURG - Former head of engineering at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), Daniel Mthimkhulu, has been sentenced to 15 years for three counts of fraud. 

Mthimkhulu was convicted in January 2022 after it emerged that he misrepresented his qualifications to the railway agency.

At the time, he also submitted a fraudulent job offer letter from a German engineering firm. 

The Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting in Palm Ridge on Tuesday handed down the sentence after the State argued during his trial that Mthimkhulu's conduct negatively affected ordinary South Africans, who could have benefited from the money that was unduly paid to him by PRASA.

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The court indicated that it took into account the seriousness and prevalence of fraud, the significant financial loss to PRASA and Mthimkhulu's betrayal of his employer's trust. 
  
The court also found that falsifying his qualifications had a direct impact on PRASA and its operations. 
  
Mthimkhulu claimed to have obtained a master's degree from Wits University and a doctorate in engineering management from the Technical University of Munich in Germany.
 
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and its Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained an order worth over R5 million to recoup the proceeds of crime.

"The sentence, therefore, sends, a strong message to those that steal from their employers who are a source of provision for their livelihoods that such conduct is punishable," said NPA spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane.