Chikaodinaka Nwankpa was forced to resign from his position as the head of Drexel University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Philadelphia. The professor found a way to cheat the university of thousands of dollars while he enjoyed a life of debauchery with the money. The university had to pay thousands of dollars to settle a federal investigation. Nwankpa repaid some of the money before he resigned.

Between 2010 and 2017, Nwankpa submitted bills that got reimbursed. When he submitted bills form strip clubs, he filed them as work-related dinners. He had also filed a number of unauthorised and "no receipt" purchases, which he got reimbursed using grant money.

The discovery was made in 2017, when an internal audit at Drexler went through the fraudulent reimbursements which Nwankpa filed. The receipts showed that they were issued on weekends. The restaurant bills were between midnight and 2 am. These indicated that Nwankpa had been misusing the funds.

Stripper
Ex-professor spent thousands of dollars of grant money at strip clubs. Reuters

The Sun reported that $96k (£73k) was spent by the professor at adult entertainment clubs and sports bars. Nwankpa also spent $89k (£68k) on meals and iTunes purchases.

Nwankpa was sent on administrative leave after the suspicion of fraudulence.

In October 2019, the university had to pay $198k (£151k) as a settlement after a federal investigation into the incident. Nwankpa paid the university $53,328 (£40,874) before he was asked to resign from the university where he had been working for 27 years.

The money squandered away by Nwankpa was supposed to be spent on science, energy and naval research. On January 13, Nwankpa was arrested by university police. After posting bail of $25k (£19k) and surrendering his passport, Nwankpa was released.

The shamed professor faces charges of theft by unlawful take and theft by deception. Nwankpa will appear in court on January 26 for his preliminary hearing. If found guilty, he could be given a 14-year prison sentence and might have to pay $300k (£230k).