Professor Roy David Marcus, former chairperson of the University of Joburg’s council was arrested after he handed himself to the specialised Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
Subsequent to the arrest, the Hawks said Marcus appeared before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, and the matter has been postponed to December 4, for docket disclosure.
“Marcus was released on a warning and will be joined by (co-accused) Andries van Schoor and Andrea Spilhaus,” according to Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale.
The arrest came amidst allegations of collusion at the University of Johannesburg involving more than R14 million.
“It is reported that Marcus together with his two accomplices colluded together by submitting invoices to the university for services that were not rendered by the service provider,” said Mogale.
“However, the money was approved and paid by one of the accomplices without proper procurement procedures being followed to appoint the three companies involved,” she said.
“Marcus did not have the delegation or authority to approve such payments thus breaching the code of conduct of the University of Johannesburg. They failed by not exercising due care and skill nor to act in the interess of the university. He and his accomplices misrepresented themselves to the university.”
Marcus’s co-accused, University of Joburg’s vice-chancellor of finance, Jaco van Schoor, as well as Andrea Spillhaus, a director at Clarify Investment Corporation, were arrested on August 30.
Schoor and Spillhaus have since appeared in court, where they were released on R10 000 bail each.
“Marcus was the director of the companies that were awarded tenders without following due processes and he was the chairperson of the board of the University of Johannesburg,” said Mogale.
Meanwhile, provincial head of the Hawks in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, has welcomed Marcus’s arrest and encouraged the investigations team to “follow all leads that will ensure that all involved are brought to book”.
In 2018, “IOL” reported that the University of Johannesburg had set out to recover the more than R14 million from two former executives, who siphoned the money from the institution through several well-calculated acts of fraud.
At the time, Marcus and Van Schoor, the sacked deputy vice-chancellor of finance, did not oppose the application for damages UJ had brought against them in the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg.
Judge Philip Coppin granted an order against the pair in August 2018 and the companies through which they stole the millions of rand belonging to the university.
The order was drafted by lawyers out of court. The order said Marcus and Van Schoor should jointly pay back the money to UJ. This, however, will not exempt the pair from facing further criminal charges, which the EFF student command was demanding.
IOL