Warrant issued for former NSW TAFE IT manager

An arrest warrant has been issued for a former NSW TAFE IT manager after he failed to appear before court this week.

Ronald Cordoba was due to appear at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday to apply to withdraw his plea of guilty to fraud and deception charges.

The charges stem from a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry.

The corruption watchdog formally labelled Cordoba corrupt back in March 2016 after uncovering an elaborate scheme that allegedly netted as much as $1.7 million from the TAFE’s South Western Sydney Institute campus.

Cordoba admitted to the ICAC a number of frauds against the institute, including using a front company - that he registered as a pre-qualified supplier on the Department of Education’s finance system - to charge for a fake cloud service run from a server in his own home.

ICAC secured charges against Cordoba in February 2017.

He was charged with 51 counts of fraud, one count of wilfully lying to an ICAC officer, and one count of giving false evidence during a compulsory ICAC examination.

Cordoba pleaded guilty to all charges in July 2017 and was due to be sentenced in May this year.

However, sentencing was pushed back to allow Cordoba to apply to have his guilty plea changed through a "plea traversal" on June 6.

On Wednesday, Cordoba failed to show at the hearing, even after several attempts by the court and his solicitor to make contact.

The court has now dismissed his plea traversal and issued an arrest warrant to bring him before the court.

The case was used by ICAC earlier this year to implore the NSW public sector to better vet new hires.