A ZIMBABWEAN national accused of running a bogus Further Education and Training (FET) college in Tzaneen, Limpopo, has been arrested for fraud, South Africa police have confirmed.
The 26-year-old man faces charges of fraud involving more than R1.1 million (about US$100,000), identity fraud for using a South African identity document fraudulently and contravening the immigration act, SA police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
On Monday, the Tzaneen Magistrate Court heard that the man also had two identities.
Said Mulaudzi said: "He has two names so now we need to establish who he really is."
The case was postponed to October 23 with the man remaining in police custody.
"The suspect is accused of running St Ignatius FET College in Tzaneen [without] proper documents.
"During his arrest he was allegedly found with a substantial amount of money and police also confiscated his vehicle," Mulaudzi said.
Investigations began when registered students at the college went to the department of higher education to check whether the school was registered with the department.
"After the matter was referred to the Hawks for investigation, it was revealed that the college was not registered with the department of higher education.
"The accreditation certificates from both the department of higher education and Umalusi, which the college was using, were found to be bogus," the police spokesman said.
The college manager and a lecturer were also arrested but later released after it was found that they were not connected to the running of the college.