NIGERIAN PROF DOES WHAT NIGERIANS DO

Ex-Drexel professor arrested for spending $96K in grant money on strip clubs

By Kenneth Garger

New York Post
January 15, 2020

A former Drexel University professor was arrested Monday for allegedly blowing nearly $200,000 in federal grant money on strip clubs and other expenses, prosecutors said.

Chika Nwankpa, 57, the former head of the electrical engineering department, admitted to misusing the funds when confronted by officials at the Philadelphia university last year.

Nearly half of the money, $96,000, went toward adult entertainment and bar tabs, prosecutors who announced his arrest said.

Another $89,00 was spent on food and iTunes purchases.

Nwankpa allegedly looted the grant money from the Navy, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, spending it over the course of seven years beginning in 2010, prosecutors said.

Last October, Drexel University settled with federal prosecutors for $190,000 to avoid a potential lawsuit from the Justice Department, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Around that time, when Nwankpa was confronted with the improper spending, he resigned and agreed to pay $55,328 for the bill.

Nwankpa was charged with theft and freed on $25,000 bail. He could not immediately be reached for comment.