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- SA Rugby Union boss Jurie Roux was ordered to pay R37 million to Stellenbosch University.
- Before Roux took the helm in the rugby union, he held senior positions in the university’s Finance Department.
- During this time, it was alleged that he had improperly funneled university funds to the Maties Rugby Club.
SA Rugby Union (SARU) CEO Jurie Roux was ordered to reimburse R37 million, which an arbitrator determined had been embezzled from Stellenbosch University coffers during his tenure in the finance department of the institution.
Roux, between 2002 and 2010, had held senior positions in the university’s finance department and had been accused of tampering with the electronic accounting system to funnel millions in unbudgeted expenses to the Maties rugby club.
While rising through the ranks of the university administration, Roux also settled into leadership positions at the rugby club.
Roux took command of SARU in 2013, the same year that auditing firm KPMG submitted a preliminary report, which delved into Roux’s profligacy, to the university, which found it manipulated the financial system to make payments.
The auditors also made adverse findings against Roux’s friend and former colleague Chris de Beer, who also held leadership positions in the university’s finance department and the rugby club.
READ | The refereeing battle begins between Stellenbosch University, SA Rugby boss
After a lengthy legal skirmish, Roux and the university agreed that their dispute would be arbitrated by attorney Alasdair Sholto-Douglas SC in a series of closed-door sessions, which began in late 2019.
On Wednesday, Sholto-Douglas issued his conviction, in which he found that Roux had violated the terms of his contract with Stellenbosch University by failing to act in his best interest.
“By allocating the university funds to the four cost centers (without authorization or budget) it constituted a breach of its employment contract, which resulted in the university suffering damages for the amount alleged in the details of the claim, is say, R35 312 004.
“I also find that he violated his employment contract by incurring expenses of R1 804 398 on behalf of the university in connection with the Western Province Rugby Institute when he was not authorized to do so and in circumstances where the university had not actually incurred such obligation, “he said.
He also ordered De Beer to return R2 million that he had helped take out of college.
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