Prosecutors have accused a former Drexel University professor of allegedly spending federal grant money on entertainment and personal expenses, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Chikaodinaka Nwankpa, the former head of the electrical engineering department at Drexel, was charged with theft for spending research money amounting $190,000 on unrelated items, including $96,000 on strip clubs and sports bars and $89,000 on iTunes purchases and meals, the Inquirer adds. It notes that these expenses were first uncovered in 2017 when university auditors uncovered a number of expenses that lacked a receipt. According to the Inquirer, Nwankpa admitted the misuse of funds, resigned, and agreed to pay $53,328 back. Drexel, meanwhile, agreed to repay the full $190,000 to avoid a federal lawsuit, it says.
"He betrayed Drexel University and the tuition-paying students he was paid to educate," District Attorney Larry Krasner says in a statement, according to the Inquirer.