The Walter Sisulu University student who spent more than R800 000 of the R14-million rand that was mistakenly deposited into her NSFAS account, was checking her bank balance regularly.
That's according to IntelliMali's IT Manager, Stephen Meyer, while he testified during the second day of Sibongile Mani's fraud trial in the East London Magistrates Court on Friday.
Meyer said he had evidence that Mani checked her balance 12 times in June 2017 and that when she first used the allocated funds, she purchased food at a local fast food outlet.
He said that he was sure that Mani knew that there was an error made because she was only entitled to R1 400, but she failed to report the matter.
Meyer said that they had suffered a huge loss as one of Universities' NSFAS service providers and that their reputation had been tarnished since the incident, adding that they had also lost one University as a client.
Mani who appeared calm during the court proceedings, supported by a group of her fellow students, was arrested in 2017 and released on bail.
She allegedly spent the money on luxury items and alcohol.
Magistrate Twanett Olivier postponed the matter to 11 November 2019 for further investigation.
