PITTSBURG, Kan. — A former Pittsburg State University professor has admitted defrauding a Nigerian graduate student exchange program he led at the university out of more than $140,000.
The Joplin Globe reports 61-year-old Michael Muoghalu pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Wichita to wire fraud and money laundering.
In exchange for the plea agreement, the prosecutor agreed to recommend a lower sentence. He will also be required to repay the university $148,430.
Prosecutors allege that beginning in 2006 Muoghalu worked with an unknown accomplice in Nigeria to persuade 15 Nigerian students to give him part of the refunds they received after they deposited money with the university for tuition and fees.
Muoghalu, who taught finance at the school for 23 years, resigned last September.
