Bunny chows and the UKZN school of medicine – what are we on about?

We’re talking about the owners of the Durban CBD’s Little Gujarat restaurant, with IOL saying they “were caught selling more than their famous vegetarian bunny chows this week”.

Mmm, bunny chows.

Above is Varsha Bhatt, who was bust along with husband Hiteshkumar Bhatt and former Chatsworth school teacher, Preshni Hiramun.

They are said to be the masterminds behind the selling of “medicine and other health science places at the University of KwaZulu-Natal”:

The trio was charged with fraud and contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

The three are accused of working as agents in cahoots with a syndicate at UKZN to fraudulently enrol students in the health science faculty and school of medicine.

There is also evidence to suggest they have links to a syndicate at the Medical University of South Africa…

Little Gujarat, in the Durban CBD, came to a standstill as customers watched as the police swooped, seizing assets belonging to the Bhatts, including two Mercedes-Benz vehicles, laptops, hard-drives and flash drives.

At Hiramun’s home in Somerset Park, uMhlanga [above], laptops were found hidden in a washing machine.

Evidence, such as documents pertaining to the syndicate, was also seized.

If you’re hoping for a hook-up you best be ready to pay:

It is alleged the Bhatts and Hiramun acted as agents. They chatted to interested parents, negotiated bribes and liaised with university staff who helped get the parents’ children enrolled.

This was done even though the students involved did not meet the minimum requirements for the courses.

The three suspects allegedly charged R250 000 for admission to the health sciences faculty. This included pharmacy, optometry and audiology. They charged R500 000 for a place in medicine.

It is further claimed the trio were involved in the sale of examination question and answer papers for an additional R30 000.

Given that CNN last year declared Little Gujarat restaurant “one of the world’s best for street food”, praising their bunny chows, you’d think they wouldn’t need to resort to such measures.

Greed strikes again.

All three suspects appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday:

Varsha, 44, and Hiteshkumar Bhatt, 46, as well as co-accused Preshni Hiramun, 55, were granted R40 000 bail each…

The three face four counts of corruption at this stage…

Hawks investigator Mandla Mkhwanazi testified in court that more arrests are on the cards and that the investigation was at a sensitive stage hence too much information could not be divulged. They will appear in court again this August for the state to prepare its investigation.

Spicy stuff.

[source:iol&iol]