"Mail Online", United Kingdom on 12th January 2012: A conman is accused of starting a fake university and churning out fake diplomas – while in prison. Kenneth Shong, 45, who is currently serving time in a Wisconsin prison appeared in court on Tuesday to face a fraud charge, years after the complex scheme was uncovered. He is alleged to have worked with associates outside the prison walls to operate a suspected diploma mill that was recruiting students for at least two years before investigators caught on.

Continue reading...

"miamiherald.com", USA on 07th December 2011: From a simple gated apartment in Little Havana, Maria Del Consuelo Fernandez advertised an elaborate school for health workers across the county to get trained in the intricacies of CPR (Cardiopulmanary resuscitation), infection control and even consoling the mentally ill. People would arrive in scrubs to get certificates to land jobs at assisted living facilities, group homes and even as private school bus drivers. But all along, the 56-year-old woman was running a diploma mill – with no training – taking wads of cash over the fence and giving her customers fake certificate, prosecutors say. Fernandez was among 20 people arrested Wednesday in an undercover investigation into one of Miami-Dade’s burgeoning illegal industries: cash for credentials.

Continue reading...

"thisissomerset.co.uk", United Kingdom on 28nd September 2011 : The fake “Glastonbury University” website has been taken down. It was feared the website, which promoted a fictitious university, was being used to rip-off unsuspecting applicants, particularly in the Far East. Investigations made by Somerset County Council trading standards have resulted in the domain name and site being removed by officers of the Metropolitan Police specialist e-crime unit. "I’m pleased that swift action was taken to remove this outrageous fake university site," said Cabinet Member, Cllr David Hall. "I hope this is the last we will see of the fake Glastonbury University, but it may well reappear under another name."

Continue reading...

"allafrica.com", Mauritius on 20th September 2011 : The number of fake universities operating in the country has risen from 44 to 51, National Universities Commission (NUC) has alerted. According to the weekly news bulletin of NUC, eight of the universities had been taken to court, while some are currently undergoing investigations. The eight illegal universities, either in court or currently being investigated, according to the Executive Secretary Julius Okojie, are National University of Nigeria, Keffi, Nasarawa State; North Central University, Oturkpo, Benue State and Christ Alive Christian Seminary and University, Enugu State.

Continue reading...

"indiatoday.intoday.in", India on 19th September 2011 : Delhi has become the capital of the fake management degree business. The Capital has bagged the dubious distinction of playing host to the largest number of illegal educational institutes in the country……The K. R. Mangalam Global Institute of Management in Greater Kailash, for instance, informed this reporter (posing as an MBA aspirant) that their MBA degree did not require AICTE approval as it was offered by Mysore University, which is UGC recognised. Similarly, the FOSTIIMA Business School in South Extension, a five-year-old institute that boasts being set up by seven alumni of IIM Ahmedabad, also said its MBA degree was legal as it was offered through a tieup with Pondicherry University.

Continue reading...

"lhrtimes.com", Pakistan on 16th September 2011 : Italian police on Friday said they discovered a fake university in the north of the country where around 10 students were paying around 7,000 euros ($9,600) for a worthless, unrecognised degree. The university in Verona called “Carolus Magnus” (Charlemagne) was founded in 2005 in Rome by several people that belonged to a cultural association, which later transferred its headquarters to Verona, police said in a statement. The university offered courses in “art and entertainment management” or “economics and business management” and assured it was registered with other public and private universities, none of which were known to Italy’s education ministry.

Continue reading...

"ceskapozice.cz", Czech Republic on 09th September 2011 : Among the first people to be stripped of a law degree from the faculty of the University of West Bohemia (ZCU) in Plzen – labelled a “diploma mill” in the media for having awarded fast-track degrees under suspicious circumstances – has filed a law suit to have his degree reinstated……Following the revelation in 2009 that the law faculty of the University of West Bohemia in Plzen had been awarding fast-track degrees – to those who had plagiarized or not even submitted dissertations – then Education Minister Miroslava Kopicova ordered an audit of all Czech universities to see if such practices were widespread.

Continue reading...

"timesofindia.com", India on 08th August 2011 : The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested three people, including the director of a business school on Saturday, for allegedly duping several students. The director had started an MBA course at the International Business School of Management (IBSM) and allegedly told students that it was affiliated to EIILM University in Sikkim. But details obtained from the university and the University Grants Commission (UGC) through a Right to Information query, revealed that it has not permitted the university to give degrees outside Sikkim. The police have arrested Surbhi Roshan, 43, Jarnail Bhuttar, 54, and Vasant Jadhav, 38, under Sections 420 (cheating), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

Continue reading...

"miaminewtimes.com", USA on 28th July 2011 : Rashaad Easterling was shooting hoops in the gymnasium at Goulds Park when a looming, sharply dressed man with a long scar under his left eye jogged over to him. "Come to my school," he told the 17-year-old matter-of-factly, referring to Choice Preparatory School, the outfit in a corner of the tiny park building. He promised Rashaad that after a stint at his private school, the kid could get a sports scholarship to any top college he wanted. The man, Antron Wright, then made the same pitch to Rashaad's bone-thin mom, Roslyn, who lives in the projects across the street from the gym. He told her he'd get Rashaad a McKay Scholarship – a state-funded tuition voucher for students with disabilities – despite the fact that the kid, who earned good grades at Miami Southridge Senior High, didn't have a disability.

Continue reading...

“jamaicaobserver.com”, Jamaica on 24th July 2011 : Questions are being asked about a local nursing school after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week named it in the investigation of an elaborate criminal network that set up bogus nursing schools throughout that US metropolis……According to officials, the list of schools believed to be involved include: International Language and Professional Network, Inc. (ILPN) located on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn; Life-VTEC, located at Jamaica Avenue, Queens Village; Hope-VTEC aka J Allrich Productions, Inc., Hope Nursing Tutorial Services, and Tutorial Nursing Prep, located at Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin Square; Helping Angels Foundation of America (HAFA) which operated at two locations: Brooklyn and Long Island; and Envision Review Center on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.

Continue reading...

“wnyt.com”, USA on 20th July 2011 : Police Chief Mark Chaires admitted Wednesday that mistakes were made when hiring recruit John Laviano. “This is just something that fell through the cracks,” Chaires told NewsChannel 13. Laviano, a 22-year-old decorated Army veteran who has seen combat in Afghanistan, was sworn in Monday with four other recruits. But when questions were raised about his online college degree from Ashwoord University, Laviano was fired two days later. “I think what happened is just that this university is somebody that carries it to unethical and dishonest and illegal extremes,” said Chaires, suggesting that the university is a diploma mill.

Continue reading...

“ceskapozice.cz”, Czech Republic on 30th June 2011 : The law faculty of the University of West Bohemia (ZCU) in Plzen has made headlines in recent years for all the wrong reasons – accused of acting like a diploma mill for Czech politicians and entrepreneurs looking to advance their careers (or massage their egos) by obtaining academic titles without actually attending classes or doing any original research. Now, its recognition of degrees from Ukraine is drawing fire from the Supreme Prosecution Service (NSZ). NSZ chief Pavel Zeman has revealed that the courts have annulled 25 decisions by the university to recognize degrees from the Carpathian State University of Ukraine, and in total 44 people could lose their right to equivalent Czech academic titles, the news server iDnes.cz reported Thursday.

Continue reading...