A Limpopo woman who was in hiding for six years after apparently defrauding students out of more than R2m while running three unregistered nursing colleges has been granted R15 000 bail until the case resumes on 30 June.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said Salome Ngwana ran the unregistered colleges in Botlokwa, Morebeng and the Vhembe district of Limpopo, where students enrolled for nursing courses.
The ruse was exposed in 2017 and a case was opened against her, but she fled to Zimbabwe where she has been for most of the time since, said Malabi-Dzhangi.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said Ngwana fraudulently registered unsuspecting students for diplomas, and also promised them jobs across the province on completion of their studies, reports News24.
Cases were opened in Polokwane, Morebeng, Thohoyandou and Waterval in Limpopo, as well as parts of Gauteng.
In March, detectives received information that Ngwana would return to South Africa via OR Tambo International Airport, and she was arrested on arrival.
She appeared in the Makhado Magistrate’s Court on 13 counts of fraud where she was granted bail, but Malabi-Dzhangi said she was also facing 40 counts of fraud in Thohoyandou and 43 counts in the Morebeng Magistrate’s Court.
She had been untraceable for more than six years and had not been living at her home in Makhado.
Malabi-Dzhangi said Ngwana was currently staying in Fourways, Johannesburg, where she has a business with 12 employees.
In granting bail, Magistrate Bennie Smith said Ngwana was being released on condition she report to the Midrand police station every Monday between 7am and 8pm, hand over her passport, and inform the investigating officer when she wanted to leave South Africa for business.
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