Jackson Academy's headmaster, known to some as "Dr. Pat," earned his doctoral degree from a fraudulent university.

Pat Taylor acknowledges it - and so does his boss.

Taylor received a doctorate in secondary education from LaSalle University in Mandeville, La., in 1996 - the same year FBI agents raided the institution.

Its founder, James Kirk, pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion, admitting he used LaSalle and his church to swindle LaSalle students out of $36.5 million, taking $1.5 million of that cash to buy himself a white-columned mansion. He also admitted setting up his World Christian Church as a bogus front to avoid paying income taxes.

Author John Bear, a nationally renowned expert on diploma mills, said about a dozen states have passed laws that make it a crime to claim a degree from LaSalle or similar bogus institutions in resumes. "It's nothing you would want to use in any public way," he said.

Mississippi, however, has no such law, Bear said...

Peter Jernberg, president and CEO of Jackson Academy, defended the educator, saying he was well aware throughout the search process that Taylor had earned his doctoral degree from a diploma mill. "That wasn't even an issue," he said.

A doctoral degree was not required for the position, but a master's in education and significant administrative experience were, he said. "The committee spent the majority of its time exploring the impeccable record of service and accomplishments Pat Taylor had at St. Paul's Episcopal School (in Mobile), where he served for 34 years. Every reference the committee checked gave their highest recommendation of Pat Taylor."

Taylor has never misrepresented anything about his background, Jernberg said. "The headmaster, board and parents of St. Paul's Episcopal School were more aware than us of the circumstances of Pat's doctorate, and they had no issues with it for the 11 years he continued to serve there after earning it," Jernberg said.

JA parents reached Tuesday weren't bothered by the revelation or wouldn't comment. Byron Edgecombe, vice president of the JA Association, said the fact that Taylor earned his degree from a diploma mill "doesn't concern me at all. He's done a very good job when he's been here."

Each year, JA parents pay up to $9,900 a year in tuition.

Taylor said he didn't realize LaSalle was a diploma mill until after he graduated.

Since his release from prison, Kirk has started several other academic institutions, some of them in Mississippi, Bear said.

Taylor said he did, however, know LaSalle wasn't accredited.

Asked why he would get a degree from an institution that wasn't accredited, he replied he was more interested in the help the institution offered...

He said he chose LaSalle because someone on the staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital had recommended the institution. (There is a legitimate LaSalle University in Philadelphia, Pa.)

Taylor said he could not recall the name of the professor under whom he did his doctoral dissertation, which included research on the best college options for students with learning disabilities.

He said he spent two to three years working on his research, which included a survey of college admission offices. "It was significant survey work," he said...

Rutledge said St. Paul's paid for Taylor's expenses at LaSalle, including paying a typist to type his dissertation...

As for Taylor continuing to list his doctoral degree on his resume, "I feel he earned it. I would not question that."

"Virginia’s system of higher education is one of the most highly regarded in the country, and this bill is an important part of maintaining that integrity." That was Governor Tim Kaine’s response to the passage of House Bill 766 during the reconvene session yesterday at the General Assembly.

As of July 1 when the law takes effect, anyone who issues, manufactures, or knowingly uses fraudulent academic credentials can be found guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a sentence of up to 12 months in jail and fines of up to $2,500. Violations of the law should be reported to the Commonwealth’s Attorney offices in the location where they occur.

The legislation was drafted after months of hard work by a consortium of stakeholders, including The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Career College Association (VCCA), Longwood University, the Virginia Community College System, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

The bill was sponsored by Delegate Robert Tata, chairman of the House Education Committee and long-time advocate for higher education in Virginia. "When fraudulent credentials go unchecked, it diminishes the credentials offered by legitimate institutions," said Delegate Tata.

The State Council reports that diploma mills have not yet become a problem in Virginia. However, the potential for serious harm should diploma mills begin to operate in the Commonwealth prompted this proactive legislation.

"As more states pass legislation prohibiting diploma mills, Virginia becomes more vulnerable," said Daniel J. LaVista, SCHEV’s Executive Director. "That is why it was important to act quickly. I applaud Delegate Tata and the General Assembly for taking this important step to protect higher education in Virginia."

The manufacture and use of fraudulent credentials are cause for concern in a number of areas. First, there are the individuals who knowingly use fraudulent credentials to get jobs. In the case of health professions this practice can be dangerous, even life-threatening. Secondly, there are those who spend hard-earned money in good faith for credentials that turn out to be worthless. Third, employers are victimized when they spend money for what they think is legitimate training and get no value added to their workplace.

Virginia joins the following states in passing legislation against diploma mills: Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

SCHEV is the Commonwealth’s coordinating body for Virginia’s system of higher education. The agency provides policy guidance and budget recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly, and is a resource for information on Virginia colleges and universities on higher education issues. For more information about the agency or higher education issues in Virginia, visit www.schev.edu.

For more information, contact Kirsten Nelson, Director of Government Relations and Communications, at KirstenNelson@schev.edu or (804)225-2627.

For two years, the locally unaccredited Bircham International University has been illegally operating in Kenya, wooing unsuspecting students to its distance learning classes.

Questions are now being raised over degrees courses offered by the Spanish institution, in what appears to be yet another angle to an ensuing education scam.

Investigations by Business Daily show that the university charges between Sh250,000 and Sh400,000 in fees for undergraduate, masters and doctorate courses.

This is marginally below what most local accredited universities charge for the same type of degrees.

Most of the bogus colleges are found in congested precincts, often sandwiched between shops and office blocks. They charge lower fees than most universities and are staffed by teachers who lack credentials.

Locally, some institutions are claiming to offer degrees on behalf of Bircham International university. Among them is Maranatha Professional College of Counselling based in Nairobi.

The secretary for Commission for Higher Education (CHE), Prof Everett Standa, says the institution is operating in the country illegally and degree certificates from BIU will not be recognised by the Commission.

Our request to the Spanish Embassy in Kenya on the registration status of BIU in Spain was unanswered by the time of going to press.

On several occasions, BIU has unsuccessfully sought collaboration with some credible local colleges. One such institution is the Kenya Institute of Professional Counselling which is validated by CHE and is already in collaboration with the Egerton University.

It is understood that most of the initial students of BIU had been recruited from KIPC, but later withdrew from the it after word went around that the institution was not locally recognised.

A former student, who enrolled in 2004 and has graduated, told Business Daily that BIU has hired agents to source local students. The agent gets a commission of $1,000 (Sh62,000) for every student who enrols and pays up the whole fees amount.

According to Prof Standa, BIU is not listed in the Unesco's International Handbook of Universities - a list of all registered universities in the World - which the commission uses to verify information on any foreign university.

BIU, which says it has already enrolled 110 students, operates from the 17th floor of Posta Sacco Plaza along University Way. However, the institution's co-ordinator for the East Africa region, Timothy Kiambi, sees no need in seeking accreditation for BIU to operate in the country.

"Ours is a Distance Learning Programme, which is not even regulated in Kenya," he told Business Daily. "We use the local colleges to support our students especially in research, so it is not really something that requires accreditation"

"You don't go to a foreign land and begin operations there without informing the authorities," said Prof Standa, adding that several bogus universities appear each year and students should be wary.

Locally, BIU offers diploma, degrees, masters and doctorates in Forensic Psychology and Criminology, Security Management, psychology and counselling among others.

"Officially validated degrees are required for certain government posts and professional licenses. BIU distance learning degrees can not be used for these purposes," the institution says in its website. A number of factors are coming together to fuel this trend of phony schools.

For education analysts; the rapid globalisation of education is likely to attract a more diverse range of private providers--both local and foreign -- and there could be a greater risk of confusion.

More foreign universities are set to open overseas campuses - and CHE warns that there will be "more of these shadowy organisations wanting to make quick cash".

Although the awarding of qualifications in Kenyan universities is tightly regulated, the rules do not apply for businesses calling themselves "colleges" or "institutes".

Degrees from such universities are mere pieces of paper with no academic value.

Three Washington state residents have admitted to selling thousands of bogus academic degrees through scores of phony online universities, while raking in millions of dollars from customers.

In plea agreements filed late last month in the U.S. District Court in Spokane, Dixie E. Randock, her husband Steven K. Randock Sr., and her daughter Heidi K. Lorhan admitted to having used Web sites and sold degrees in fields that included education, medicine, and nuclear engineering to customers from the United States and other countries from 1999 to 2005. The three pleaded guilty to federal criminal fraud charges.

In 2003, several Georgia teachers and administrators used degrees purchased from one of the bogus online schools, "St. Regis University," to qualify for state pay raises.

State officials accepted the credentials from the phony university, which was purportedly in Liberia, because a Florida-based credential-evaluation firm vouched for their validity. ("Educators’ Degrees Earned On Internet Raise Fraud Issues," May 5, 2004.)

Last fall, several other participants in the scheme also pleaded guilty to fraud and other criminal charges. They include charges related to bribery of officials from the government of Liberia, which for a time listed St. Regis University and other entities created by the group as accredited institutions. One other alleged participant reportedly is in plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Risk and Awareness

Alarms about the dangers of global trafficking in bogus academic credentials have been raised by members of the U.S. academic community, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Government Accountability Office, and members of the U.S. Congress.

Only nine states broadly outlaw or restrict the use of unaccredited academic credentials in applying for a raise or a job; an additional two states have more-narrow protections against the use of bogus degrees, according to Alan L. Contreras, the administrator of Oregon’s office of degree authorization.

U.S. Senate hearings in 2004 focused on federal employees who bought credentials from "diploma mills"—sometimes with public money—to win raises and promotions in government jobs.

Federal legislation reining in online diploma mills is part of a major higher education reauthorization bill that the House of Representatives passed earlier this year. The bill is currently being considered by a House-Senate conference committee, along with a version passed by the Senate that does not address diploma mills.

The bill, H.R. 4137, for the first time provides a legal definition of a diploma mill, while instructing the U.S. secretary of education to establish lists of legitimate accrediting agencies, colleges and universities, and equivalent overseas institutions. The bill would establish a "diploma mill task force" to develop guidelines to distinguish between legitimate and bogus degree-granting institutions and legislation to address fraudulent degrees. The bill also directs the Federal Trade Commission to designate the offering or issuing of a bogus degree as "an unfair and deceptive act or practice."

Bill a ‘Good Start’

George Gollin, a physics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has crusaded against online diploma mills for years, says the House legislation, which was originally developed by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., is "a really good start."

He estimates that the Randocks’ operation, at its height, sold between 2,000 and 3,000 degrees per year. According to the plea agreement, "the cost of a high school diploma was $350-$400, and an undergraduate or graduate ‘degree’ was $500-$1,200."

Of the online diploma mills in the early 2000s, Mr. Gollin said, theirs was the most "sophisticated in presentation" on the Web, though "it wasn’t the biggest in terms of marketing."

Still, said Mr. Gollin, who currently is a member of the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, based in Washington, "I think very roughly, U.S.-based diploma-mill operators are selling between 100,000 and 200,000 degrees yearly."

In K-12 education, bogus credentials seem to be most prevalent among nonclassroom school employees who are seeking degrees to obtain promotions or higher pay grades, rather than teachers, Mr. Gollin said.

Online diploma mills "are easy to create, easy to move," said Judith S. Eaton, the executive director of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation, which oversees domestic accreditation of colleges and universities. Despite a dearth of reliable data on the extent of the problem, Ms. Eaton called it "a cause for concern worldwide—both in the import and export of degrees."

In fields such as engineering or medicine, she noted, allowing people to gain positions of responsibility with bogus degrees could have life-threatening consequences.

Dixie Ellen Randock, a high-school dropout who masterminded a Spokane-based Internet scheme to sell bogus high school and university degrees around the world, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

The 58-year-old Colbert woman, who sold real estate before launching her massive diploma mill operation in the late 1990s, faces three years in prison when she is sentenced July 2 in U.S. District Court.

She started her string of online universities "because she saw it as a good way to make money," according to the plea agreement she signed.

Her husband, Steven K. Randock Sr., 67, and daughter, Heidi Kae Lorhan, 39, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Under terms of separate plea agreements, Steven Randock faces three years in prison and Lorhan faces 12 to 18 months.

As part of plea bargains, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to seek dismissal of money-laundering charges against the Randocks, which carried longer potential prison terms. They agreed to forfeit more than $535,000 in cash seized in 2005 by a special task force, as well as their late-model Jaguar.

The fourth remaining defendant, Roberta Lynn Markishtum, was negotiating a similar plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office and may enter a guilty plea today, Judge Lonny Suko was told at Wednesday’s hearing.

The case is believed to be the first successful prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice of diploma-mill operators, using wire and mail fraud statutes.

"In terms of complexity and numbers of documents, I’d say it ranks up there, if not the biggest, then one of the biggest (cases) that’s come across my desk," said Jim McDevitt, who has been the U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington for the past seven years.

New court documents disclose that the conspirators used an airline magazine advertisement to sell at least one "doctor of medicine" degree from their fictional Saint Regis University to a buyer in North Carolina who paid the Randocks $1,531.

A man from Wisconsin bought a nuclear science degree from Robertstown University, another one of the 125 bogus online schools created by the Randocks, the documents say.

There are at least 8,200 purchasers whose names haven’t been released by the federal government. McDevitt said Wednesday he’s committed to the eventual release of the names of buyers who used their degrees in many instances to get jobs and promotions or, in the case of foreign nationals, to enhance their chances of immigrating to the United States.

At least 300 of the buyers worked for the federal government, including in positions in the Justice Department, the State Department, various military branches and even the White House, it has been disclosed in previous court hearings.

The only publicly announced criminal prosecution of a purchaser involves a former deputy U.S. marshal supervisor who worked in Spokane and bought a degree from Saint Regis. He pleaded guilty to lying on a promotion application and awaits sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, who headed the multiagency task force dubbed "Operation Gold Seal" that has investigated the diploma mill operation for more than three years. Because of pending court hearings, Jacobs said he couldn’t comment.

The federal task force was created in early 2005, following a November 2003 news story in The Spokesman-Review about the diploma-mill operation being run by the Randocks out of an office building in Mead and a house in Hillyard.

After that notoriety, the Randocks moved their operation to a rented basement office in a Post Falls office building, registering their businesses with the state of Idaho as "When Pigs Fly Inc." and "Kaching, Kaching Inc."

Federal interest in the operation ramped up when investigators discovered purchasers included people living in the Middle East they feared could be terrorists who could legally gain entry into the United States with their bogus college degrees.

Four other defendants — Blake Alan Carlson, Richard John Novak, Kenneth Wade Pearson and Amy Leann Hensley — previously pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy and agreed to be prosecution witnesses against the Randocks. Pearson, who worked as webmaster for the Randocks, also pleaded guilty to receipt of 10,000 child pornography images. They all await sentencing.

In her plea agreement, Dixie Randock confessed to making up names of prep schools and universities, creating online Web sites for them and selling fraudulent degrees and transcripts.

She also admitted to manufacturing counterfeit degrees, class transcripts and other academic products, using the names of legitimate U.S. universities, including the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M, the University of Maryland and George Washington University.

Defense attorney Phillip "Dutch" Wetzel said he will ask that Dixie Randock be allowed to serve her sentence under "home confinement," but Jacobs, the assistant U.S. attorney, said he will ask for straight prison time, followed by three years of probation.

Steven Randock’s attorney, Peter Schweda, said he expects to ask for little or no prison time because the 67-year-old defendant suffers from heart problems.

Attorneys for both Randocks asked the court to waive pre-sentence reports, which provide the court with a detailed background on the defendants. The prosecutor opposed that request. Suko said he would order the background reports to help craft his forthcoming sentencing decisions.

The Spokane-based diploma-mill operation raked in an estimated $6.3 million in six years of operation, using the Internet to sell more than 8,200 phony college degrees and accompanying transcripts around the world, court documents say.

The online schools claimed they were accredited by the National Board of Education in Liberia. As part of the case, the Secret Service learned Abdullah Dunbar, the deputy chief of the Liberian Embassy, was demanding cash bribes from the Randocks.

The Liberian Embassy official, secretly videotaped in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., during the investigation, demanded bribes in exchange for lining up "accreditation" for Saint Regis University and other diploma mills and for handing out payments of $50 to $100 a month to Liberian educators posing as "faculty members" for the online universities.

The task force was headed by agents with the Secret Service, with assistance from the Federal Protective Service, the IRS, a Spokane police fraud detective and investigators from the Washington state attorney general’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office.

Dixie Randock, who used 11 aliases in the scheme, including "Patrick O’Brien, dean of studies at Saint Regis University," declined comment after leaving the courtroom.

She got engraved diploma seals and fraudulent signature stamps for her cast of professors and deans from Carlson, a co-conspirator who operated a stamp shop in Hillyard. He also became "provost and chief academic officer" for Saint Regis University and "dean of studies" for Robertstown University, signing his name as "Professor Blackwell."

Het Amerikaanse controleorgaan van onderwijsinstellingen waarschuwt voor Concordia College and University. Dat is een frauduleuze 'universiteit' die door de Belg Kristiaan D.L. geleid zou worden. Ook de geheime dienst zit op de zaak.

ANTWERPEN: Vorig jaar nog werd in de Vernigde Staten een vrouw veroordeeld die een vals diploma psychologie gebruikte. Dat had ze verkregen van Concordia College and University. Die had ook banden met de even valse Saint-Regis University, waarvan de medewerkers momenteel in de VS terechtstaan.

Vorig jaar werd de Amerikaanse Louise Wightman, beter bekend als Dr. Stripper, in Massachussets veroordeeld voor fraude en het onrechtmatig gebruik van de titel psychologe. Het voormalige Playboymodel en stripster had voor 13.000 dollar een doctoraat in de psychologie gekocht van Concordia College and University, naar eigen zeggen omdat ze vond dat ze "ghet doctoraat verdiend had".

Opmerkelijk is ook dat een radiopresentator uit Fostoria, Ohio, er in 2006 in slaagde via Concordia een bachelordiploma in de wetenschappen te verkrijgen voor een hond.

'Diploma mill'

De Amerikaanse Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), dat de onderwijsinstellingen controleert, roept op om waakzaam te zijn voor de Concordia College and University, een zogenaamde diploma mill of 'universiteit' die tegen betaling diploma's verkoopt via het internet. De diploma's, van masters tot doctoraten, kunnen worden verkregen op basis van 'eerder verworven kennis'. De instelling beweert geaccrediteerd te zijn door Indonesië en Liberia. Dat laatste land liet echter al weten dat de erkenning niet geldig is. Verder wordt ook een erkenning door de National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) geclaimd. Die organisatie wordt door het Amerikaanse ministerie van Onderwijs en de CHEA echter ook als frauduleus beschouwd. De man achter NAHE, Richard Hayer, staat bovendien terecht omdat ook hij via het internet ongeldige diploma's verkocht, via de Saint-Regis University. Ook de VN-organisatie UNESCO bestempelde Concordia als dubieus.

Volgens CHEA is het de Antwerpenaar Kristiaan D.L. die achter de Concordia universiteit zit. Op een oude website van de Concordia-universiteit, die niet langer online beschikbaar is, staat D.L. als afgevaardigd bestuurder van Concordia College and University. De man zou ook een doctoraat en een MBA behaald hebben aan de Trinity College and University, een instelling die in de VS eveneens bekendstaat als een diploma mill. De Morgen had inzage in een brief van de Amerikaanse ambassade in Korea, waarin D.L. gelinkt wordt aan Concordia.

Frauduleus

Daarbovenop had D.L. banden met de frauduleuze Saint-Regis University. Acht mensen achter die instelling worden momenteel vervolgd, onder andere voor fraude. Saint-Regis heeft zo'n 6.000 valse diploma's verkocht, in totaal voor 4,7 miljoen dollar. Bijna de helft daarvan werd 'uitgereikt' aan mensen uit het Midden-Oosten en Azië, die daardoor een visum voor de VS verkregen.

Er is een website, eveneens niet langer online, waarop een 'authentificatie van een Concordiadiploma' te vinden is. Dat attest is ondertekend door Steven Randock, een beklaagde in de Saint-Regiszaak, en duidt D.L. aan als 'directeur en academicus van Concordia College and University'. De Saint- Regisbeklaagden hebben ook valse erkenningsorganisaties opgericht, waaronder het NAHE, dat de Concordia van D.L. erkende.

Concordia is bovendien niet de enige diplomawinkel waaraan D.L. verbonden wordt: volgens CHEA is hij ook de man achter de Capitol University, die eveneens banden heeft met Saint-Regis.

Het heeft er alle schijn van dat ook de Amerikaanse geheime dienst achter de man aanzit, al kan dat niet formeel bevestigd worden. Wel laat een bron binnen de geheime dienst weten dat "er in het dossier beweging zit". Ook CHEA zegt dat "er naar gekeken wordt". Kristiaan D.L. was niet bereikbaar voor commentaar.

Belgian swindler sells in the United States worthless diplomas for coarse money

The American supervisory body of educational warns against Concordia College and University. That is a fraudulent 'university' by the Belgian Kristiaan DL would be led. Even the Secret Service is on the case.

Last year was still in the Vernigde States condemned a woman who used a fake diploma psychology. That she had obtained from Concordia College and University. They also had links with the equally false Saint Regis University, whose staff currently in the US trial.

Last year was the American Louise Wightman, better known as Dr. Stripper, in Massachussets convicted of fraud and the unauthorized use of the title psychologist. The former Playboy model and stripster had 13,000 dollars for a doctorate in psychology purchased from Concordia College and University, to claim because they thought that they "had earned doctorate.

It is noteworthy that a radiopresentator from Fostoria, Ohio, in 2006 succeeded in Concordia via a Bachelor diploma in sciences to obtain a dog.

'Diploma Mill'

The American Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which controls the educational, calls for vigilance for the College and Concordia University, a diploma mill 'or' university 'that charge diplomas sells over the Internet. The diplomas to doctorates, masters, may be obtained on the basis of previously acquired knowledge. The institution claims to be accredited by Indonesia and Liberia. The latter country had, however, already know that the recognition is not valid.

Is also a recognition by the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) claimed. That organization by the United States Department of Education and CHEA also considered fraudulent. The man behind NAHE, Richard Hayer, also justified because he also via the Internet invalid diplomas sold through the Saint Regis University. The UN agency UNESCO Concordia described as dubious.

According CHEA it is the Antwerp Kristiaan DL who is behind the Concordia University. On a site of the old Concordia University, which is no longer available online, DL as deputy director of College and Concordia University. The man would be a doctorate and an MBA demonstrate to the Trinity College and University, an institution established in the USA also known as a diploma mill. De Morgen had access to a letter from the American embassy in Korea, where DL linked to Concordia.

Fraudulent

There had DL ties with the fraudulent Saint Regis University. Eight people behind that institution are currently being prosecuted, including fraud. Saint Regis has about 6,000 fake diplomas sold for a total of 4.7 million dollars. Almost half of that amount was "issued" to people from the Middle East and Asia, which became a visa for the United States.

There is a website, also no longer online, which is a 'authentication of a Concordiadiploma' can be found. That certificate was signed by Steven Randock, a defendant in the Saint-Regiszaak, and indicates DL as' director and university graduate of Concordia College and University. " De Saint-Regisbeklaagden have also forged erkenningsorganisaties, including NAHE that the Concordia DL recognized.

Concordia is bovendien niet de enige diplomawinkel waaraan DL verbonden wordt: volgens CHEA is hij ook de man achter de Capitol University, die eveneens banden heeft met Saint-Regis. Concordia is not the only diplomawinkel which is linked DL: according CHEA he is also the man behind the Capitol University, which also has ties with Saint Regis.

It has seemed as if the American secret service behind the man aanzit, though not formally confirmed. Well let a source within the secret service that "there is movement in the dossier". Also CHEA says that "looked". Kristiaan DL was not reachable for comment.

Vandella Brown, manager of the diversity program at the Illinois State Library, has a doctorate from the University of Berkley.

That's B-E-R-K-L-E-Y, Michigan. Not B-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y, California. That's one difference.

Another is that the University of Berkley has been identified by Pennsylvania authorities as a "diploma mill" — a for-profit, usually Internet-based operation, that issues fraudulent degrees.

Brown said she considers her Berkley doctorate merely honorary, given in return for a charitable contribution, and that she has never used it for personal gain.

"There's no other proper way to list it, but if anyone asks, I tell them, and it's on my regular resume (as honorary)," she said. "I wouldn't dare try to make something else out of it."

"I have official degrees of master's and BA (a bachelor's degree)," Brown said in an e-mail Friday.

"I do understand that this degree is a honorary degree in conjunction with a charitable donation given through that university. I have never used it for gain and have sited on my resume as honorary. Never tried to use it as gain in my professional, it has been strictly honorary for me.

"I am worried now where my donation really went to," Brown wrote.

Brown's resume lists the Berkley degree as: "UNIVERSITY OF BERKLEY, Berkley, Michigan, DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE, Honoris Causa, June 2004."

However, Brown has signed at least one memo as "Vandella Brown, Ph.D," and her biography on the North Suburban Library System doesn't suggest that her doctorate is an honorary one.

Henry Haupt, spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state's office, under which the library is managed, said he was not familiar with Brown's educational background, but soon would be.

"This is something we'll have to look into further. Secretary (of State Jesse) White takes very seriously the credentials of his employees," he said.

If there's a university in Berkley, Mich., it's apparently well hidden.

"We're only 2.2 square miles, and we only have a population of just over 15,000. We could have a small university, but I don't know where we'd put it," said Jane Bais-DiSessa, Berkley's city manager.

The Web site for the university has a couple of disclaimers at the bottom of the home page, including that it was founded in Berkley, Mich., and "has no affiliation or connection whatsoever with the University of California at Berkeley campus!"

The school's telephone number has a Chicago area code.

And the Web site says that the owners and operators of the site may not conduct business with people who live in Pennsylvania. That may be because the Pennsylvania attorney general's office sued the University of Berkley in 2004.

The suit arose after the school, which then was based in Erie, Pa., awarded a master's degree in business administration to a cat named Colby. The cat's application actually was filed by the attorney general's office.

The suit identified Berkley's owner as Dr. Dennis Globosky, a former New Mexico state trooper, and accused him of selling fake degrees since the late 1990s. The Web site now lists Globosky as university president. (Also available on the school's Web site is a downloadable version of a song Globosky wrote and sung back in 1981, honoring the memory of John Lennon.)

A person who answers the phone for the University of Berkley said that to get a degree, an applicant will receive a portfolio in which the applicant can include "all work related to the degree you seek, or even remotely related." A committee "sorts out" that information and assigns the applicant a project, the person said.

The cost scale for a degree also is on the Berkley Web site. Prices range from $2,795 for an associate's degree to $4,995 for a doctorate. Discounts are offered for one-time payments.

The school's slogan is: "True to reality … not tradition."

Brown said she was approached by Berkley about getting a doctorate degree through a woman's organization she belongs to. She declined to provide the name of the organization.

"It first came to me in the form of a letter, and I don't remember how all it came about," she said.

"I think the donation was $1,000, and it also entailed writing a long statement about yourself. There was no test. It was totally an honorary donation to a group of children they were helping in Zimbabwe."

Brown's resume says she earned the honorary degree in 2004. Her salary history indicates she was hired by the state in September 2000 at a salary of $62,280 annually. She now makes $84,816, though there was no jump that indicates she rose a pay level because earning a degree...

What's in a name? Probably everything in the education sector. Schools and colleges with a history, reputation and a string of well known alumni behind them tend to attract more interest from sponsors, parents and students, giving them a huge potential base from which to earn income in the form of fees, grants and endowments.

It is now emerging that parents, guardians and self-sponsored students in Kenya could be losing millions of shillings in fees and other charges in the belief that they would get certificates from two famous UK universities — Cambridge and Oxford — through a correspondent relationship with the Digital Advisory Learning Centre (DALC).

The centre, which has eight campuses across the country with a high concentration in Nairobi, claims to offer diploma and degree certification from the two universities but the reality is different.

DALC collaborates with two institutions in the UK — Cambridge Association of Managers and Oxford Association of Management — which run two separate colleges offering management courses but which have no working relationship with either Cambridge or Oxford Universities.

The colleges are accredited by Quality Assurance Commission Limited owned by a Malaysian businessman and which is not recognised by UK education authorities."There are two accreditation bodies in the UK and QAC is not one of them," Mr David Higgs, the head of British Council in Kenya told The Business Daily. Accreditation bodies in the UK fall under two categories, public and private.

Private colleges are admitted through the British Accreditation Council and Accreditation Service of Independent Colleges. Mr Hicks said QAC is registered as a limited company.

DALC shares the accreditation body with Irish International University (IIU), which has been locked in a scandal since investigations by the BBC found that it had issued fake degrees and diplomas to more than 5,000 international students in the last seven years.

To pass off as a partner of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, IIU used to rent facilities for graduation at Oxford or Cambridge universities. DALC, on the other hand, insinuates in their marketing that they get certificates from the renown universities.

They market their services on the strength of association with the two which, according to the BBC findings is nonexistent. The report concluded that the accreditation body was fake and had over the years presented bogus certificates to unsuspecting international students.

The BBC findings contrast sharply with claims on DALC's website. "Assessments and issuance of certificates are done by the upgrading university at their discretion. All Cambridge or Oxford courses are assessed by Cambridge or Oxford and certificates are issued from UK."

Then the reputation bit. "The Cambridge and Oxford courses have very good recognition and upgrades to bachelors or masters degrees are guaranteed as long as the student meets the performance criteria alongside other requirements of the accepting university." DALC has recently put up an elaborate television advertisement campaign where it states that it has an approval certificate from the Commission for Higher Education .

A source at the commission, however, said the institution had only recently applied for a collaboration approval and that the commission was looking at the documents. "We have not issued any certificates to DALC. We are verifying the application," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The British Council has also disassociated itself from the institution following complaints related to examinations and failure to confer credits for direct transfers to Oxford and Cambridge.

"Questions arose from the kind of activities that the institution was involved in. We cut our ties with them in public interest," a British Council official said in a telephone interview. He declined to be quoted because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

DALC head of mission Humprey Obura, however, said the institution was looking at developing its own curricula after cutting ties with QAC sometime last year. He said the website would be updated to reflect this.

"We are in the process of initiating a new system where students assessment will be based on our curricula. We have however made it very clear that we are not a university," he said. The institution is in the process of seeking approval to administer its own programmes.

When asked about the relationship with the questionable QAC, Mr Obura said the institution had cut his links with the body and was in the process of sourcing for other colleges in other parts of the world to link with.

A statement from DALC website on the other hand read: 'You will receive a certificate from Quality Assurance Commission, UK (QAC-UK) confirming this accreditation which you can use uniformly in the world for acceptance of the credits hence exemptions from whole level of learning or particular subjects or modules.'

When asked about the relationship between DALC and Oxford or Cambridge universities, the head of the mission said: "We need to meet and talk on issues surrounding accreditation and international university education."

A web search for Royal Rhodes Institute (ostensibly based in Canada) — which he said DALC would collaborate with, however, returned no entries. Bogus institutions targeting international students have been on the spotlight in the UK recently.

"Some of the colleges will say that they have been accredited but when you ask by whom, they name an institution which is in fact owned by them," a leading academic Professor Geoffrey Aldermann recently testified before the Home Affairs Committee.

Accreditation experts in the UK estimate there may be as many as 1,000 private colleges operating across the UK targeting international students, which would fail quality standards.

Many are found in congested precincts, often sandwiched between shops and office blocks.

DALC has been operating in the country for close to four years and flags a validation certificate signed by Prof George Saitoti in fliers. It has listed a number of respected professionals in health, finance and other fields as its alumni. When contacted, a few of them declined to comment on the issue.

A related story at the same URL: State to publish list of accredited colleges

A list of all accredited colleges operating in Kenya will be published next month, effectively exposing bogus institutions purporting to be offering degrees on behalf of foreign universities.

The Commission for Higher Education (CHE), the body charged with the responsibility of overseeing the establishment and accreditation of private universities has raised a red flag over a deluge of complaints from parents and students who had paid millions of shillings to such colleges.

CHE secretary Prof Everett Standa says the Commission has already finalised a national audit on all institutions and a list submitted to the Government Printer for gazettement.

However, he says efforts to identify unregistered institutions have been slowed by capacity constraints.

This has seen the Commission revert to a wait and see attitude, relying mostly on complaints from students, parents and the general public.

"We are working very hard on behalf of students to ensure that all private institutions meet strict quality standards.

"Where we are not satisfied that this is the case with a particular college, we will not hesitate to investigate and if necessary, close it down," said Prof Standa.

Educationists and employers have questioned the degrees and accused the colleges of churning out half-baked graduates, at a time when unemployment is biting in the country.

"There are hundreds of institutions which had been licensed to offer certain programmes, but they had ended up rolling out different ones and we have identified them," Prof Standa told Business Daily.

The end result is expected to be graduates with skills that can help them compete for jobs.

The scenario in the local higher education sector is one where demand for vacancies has outstripped supply as indicated by the high number of student exports to Uganda, the US, Malaysia and the UK.This, Prof Standa said, had opened loopholes for rogue institutions offering degrees and diplomas to thrive, dealing a blow to the commission's reputation.

"I would encourage all new students to carefully check the credentials of the college they wish to enrol at and if they have any concerns, contact their local trading standards team."

Analysts said mushrooming of bogus colleges was brought about by the past inadequacies of CHE — which had the mandate of approving such institutions.

The university education crisis continues to deepen every year, culminating into a large number of qualified high school graduates missing out on admission.

Last year, for example, 63,104 out of 243,453 candidates who sat for KCSE qualified for university admission, but only 10,000 places were available in the six State universities. The remaining 53,000 had to fight for the few places in private universities or pursue their aspirations through parallel degree programmes.

A government-appointed committee to assess the state of higher education recently warned that the number of students qualifying for university education annually will be more than 230,118 in 2015.

According to Prof Standa, CHE has accredited at least 20 foreign institutions to offer degree programmes in collaboration with Kenyan universities and colleges over the last one year.

Currently, CHE is vested with the responsibility of overseeing the establishment and accreditation of private universities. It also acts as the quality assurance authority for curriculum and degree programmes offered by the institutions.

Public universities on the other hand, are established by an Act of Parliament with the supervisory role of programmes offered resting with respective university senates.

In October last year, Education Permanent Secretary Karega Mutahi said out of 544 registered colleges, only 10 offered courses recognized by the Kenya National Examination Council. The rest registered students for courses that were not approved by the council, the only institution with the mandate to vet programmes below university level.

An editorial from Business Daily Africa: Close dubious colleges, Nairobi, Kenya Business Daily Africa, March 6, 2008.

In our editorial yesterday, we tackled the question of phoney schemes.

But what is worrying are alarm bells and revelations that thousands of Kenyans could be armed with questionable degree and diploma certificates that have been acquired from bogus colleges still operating in our midst.

The Commission for Higher Education—which has been charged with the duty of validating higher educational programmes — has raised the alarm over dozens of un-accredited institutions which have mushroomed across the country purporting to offer all sorts of courses, mostly from foreign universities. We want to say: shut them down and lock up the proprietors.

Parents, guardian and self-sponsored students have put millions into such institutions, in the belief that they will get certificates from foreign universities. They don't.

With CHE saying it cannot police such institutions to ensure they are registered and their courses validated, policy gaps are apparent. But CHE cannot hide behind such a wall.

Most owners of the institutions do not even bother approaching the Commission for validation of the programmes they are offering.

The statistics were telling — just about 10 colleges have been allowed by CHE to collaborate with foreign universities to offer several programmes.

The rest, believed to be many registered students for courses that were not approved by the Commission, which is the only institution with the mandate to vet programmes at university level.

CHE can do better by educating Kenyans on the registered institutions. However, it must be pointed out that there are some middle-level colleges that offer their own courses and certificates with approval from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Before condemning those un-accredited colleges, we must also acknowledge that some of them may be offering international examinations recognised outside the country.

The danger, however, as CHE boss Everett Standa puts it, is that locally, they are not recognised. Then serious questions arise.

Just how many students have fallen prey to this mess and will employers start investigating the origin of the papers they have. What explanations will be given by the State for the fate of such Kenyans, who could end up jobless.

Raising the alarm is perfect but the Government must crack the whip on the dubious colleges.

Neither parents, guardians nor the students have the capacity to do this. If this is not done the higher education sub-sector is in danger of getting bogged down in a credibility crisis.

A federal task force that's three years into investigating a Spokane-based diploma-mill ring filed new charges this week against a man who is accused of running a "copy-cat" online university after working for Dixie Randock.

Richard H. Cleigh is scheduled to appear Thursday before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen after being charged with one count of wire fraud and a second count of mail fraud.

The 55-year-old Spokane man is tentatively scheduled to enter a guilty plea, the court docket shows, but it doesn't specify whether he will plead to one or both counts.

If he enters a plea, a written plea agreement is expected to detail how he set up his own online university.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George J.C. Jacobs, the lead prosecutor for the "Operation Gold Seal" task force investigation of Spokane-based diploma mills, said today he couldn't comment on the new case but would offer details when Cleigh appears in court.

As part of an expected plea agreement, Cleigh likely will seek "substantial assistance" and the prospects for a lighter sentence by agreeing to testify for the prosecution in the forthcoming criminal trial of Randock and three other remaining defendants. They were indicted in October 2005 and now are scheduled to stand trial in June.

Between Aug. 1, 2003, and Jan. 24, 2004, charging documents say, Cleigh "created and operated an Internet diploma mill under the fictitious name "Saint John University of St. Vincent & The Grenadines."

As part of the alleged scheme, Cleigh communicated with consumers using the name "Brother Andrew, creating the false impression that he was a member of a religious organization," the documents say.

The charges don't disclose how many degrees Cleigh sold or how much money he collected

"Cleigh falsely advertised that St. John University was founded in 1862 and was a private, non-secular university with a long and rich tradition of excellence," the charges say. He also claimed St. John was "the world leader in online degree evaluation" and that its degrees were "fully legal and valid."

In truth, the charges say, Saint John University "was neither an existent or legitimate academic entity."

The mail fraud count charge against Cleigh is linked to a separate, unrelated scheme in which he offered to sell South African Krugerrands.

"He offered to sell non-existent gold coins to unwitting eBay purchasers," the charging document says.

It lists 16 eBay customers who mailed $19,628 to Cleigh "who accepted their money but never sent the gold coins that had been promised."

A senior Federal Government executive has been sacked after being accused of using fake qualifications to get a job with the very department that warns employers to be wary of fraudulent degrees.

Bobby Singh had been recruited to a senior position within the former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations before his credentials were scrutinised.

Checks revealed he had included on his curriculum vitae allegedly fake degrees from Harrington University and the Trinity College and University, in the United States. The two universities have been described as "degree mills," which sell degrees over the internet and require no educational assessment.

The Sunday Age has obtained copies of the degrees that state Mr Singh has been awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy and a Masters of Science, both with a major in information systems, from Trinity, and a Masters of Business Administration from Harrington.

A spokesman for the federal Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Department — which carries warnings about fake degrees on its website — said Mr Singh was employed as an executive level 2, with a salary of between $79,691 and $98,900 in 2005 after a merit selection process. He was sacked in December 2006.

His case was due to go before the Federal Magistrates Court, but was settled out of court last year.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians are thought to have overstated their educational achievements on their CVs. A PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic investigation of the CVs of staff at a large financial institution in 2003 found 40% contained "serious mis-statements", including fake qualifications.

New anti-money laundering legislation has forced employers to become more vigilant, but a fake qualifications expert, Dr George Brown, says most employers accept background documentation at face value.

"That's the problem," he told The Sunday Age.

"How many people check? What skills and knowledge do they have to verify the authenticity of an academic qualification?"

Dr Brown said that in today's "credential-conscious" society, "academic qualifications are items of value that are being falsified by people wanting to move ahead in society".

Faking it

* JANUARY 2008 Former Qantas engineer Timothy McCormack will stand trial in the NSW District Court for forging a maintenance engineer's licence. McCormack had been responsible for safety checks on the airline's fleet of Boeing 747s.

* 2006 Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld was revealed to have a PhD from Pacific Western University, which has been debunked as a diploma mill for handing out doctorates for the flat fee of $US2595 ($A2800).

* 2003 Glen Oakley was sacked from his $1.2 million role as general manager of Sydney's Randwick Council after faking academic qualifications, including an MBA from Harvard University.

An East St. Louis woman has been charged in federal court in Springfield with stealing more than $50,000 from a Montgomery County residential substance abuse treatment facility, a job she obtained with fake college credentials allegedly purchased online.

She's also accused by the agency's board of failing to show up for work as required and neglecting to pay the Continuing Recovery Center's bills, leading to the Irving facility's utilities nearly being shut off. Janese E. Jordan, 41, was indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 6, but the indictment was sealed until she was arrested and appeared in court, which happened Monday.

Federal authorities allege that from December 2004 to December 2005, Jordan used her position as executive director to steal or embezzle more than $50,000, paying for such things as personal cell phones, a big-screen TV, vehicle repairs and a health club membership...

"We fired her and went into her office, and there was at least six inches of bills and correspondence on her desk and another eight inches underneath," he said. "There was a letter from the power company that said they were going to shut off the gas and power the next day."

The indictment alleges that Jordan forged names on checks using names of the center's board of directors, submitted false receipts for reimbursement and directed money to friends or family for her own personal use.

Among the items the money was used for, according to prosecutors: cellular phones for her, her family and friends; the purchase of a big-screen television from Best Buy delivered to her home in July 2005; payment of $950 worth of someone else's dental work; payment of someone else's $543.94 credit card bill; a $950 repair bill for her own vehicle; and a $700 family membership at the Leisure World Health Club.

Jurgena said Jordan had also made unauthorized donations of the center's funds to a rugby club she belonged to. According to a team roster, Jordan plays for The St. Louis Sabres. The club's Web site says the all-women team is St. Louis' oldest women's rugby club and was established in 1975.

The indictment also accuses Jordan of falsely representing in her job application that she had bachelor's and master's degrees using a diploma and transcripts she had purchased for $1,114 from an Internet site. The paperwork was from St. Regis University, but she never took classes there...

The charges are a result of an investigation by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and the FBI. Patrick Hansen, assistant U.S. attorney, is prosecuting the case...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a major higher education reauthorization bill that includes language to crack down on so-called diploma mills that sell fraudulent degrees and transcripts.

The "College Opportunity and Affordability Act" includes portions of another anti-diploma mill bill sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat.

Her legislation was drafted in part in response to a major diploma mill based in Spokane that sold 6,000 university degrees worldwide. Many of those phony degrees were sold to individuals in Saudi Arabia who used them to get enhanced immigration status – becoming an issue of concern for U.S. Homeland Security officials tracking suspected terrorists...

The new legislation, House Resolution 4137, passed Thursday on a vote of 354 to 58.

Although she didn't sign on as one of several co-sponsors of the anti-diploma bill legislation introduced by McCollum, Eastern Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted for HR 4137. Her office didn't immediately issue a statement about the new legislation.

Provisions of the legislation will "prevent the sale of fake degrees by creating clear standards of recognizing legitimate academic institutions and giving law enforcement officials the information to identity and prosecute diploma mills," said Bryan Collinsworth, a spokesman for Congresswoman McCollum.

"This legislation is an important first step toward ensuring that every college degree reflects the high quality of our higher education system," McCollum said in a prepared statement.

Fake diplomas, she said, "undermine that quality, and they have been used to carry out deceptions and crimes that are absolutely repugnant."

Provisions of the "College Opportunity and Affordability Act" will instruct the U.S. Department of Education to create a list of accredited institutions and valid accreditation associations for immigration and federal employment and hiring purposes.

The legislation also will establish a task force of higher education and law enforcement experts to develop a "strategic diploma integrity protection plan," and encourage the state to take similar steps.

The legislation also will empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on diploma mills.

A Senate companion version to the bill passed last year. Now, the House and Senate versions will go to conference committee to reconcile differences.

"Though the Senate bill did not include the diploma mill provisions, the House language will likely be included in the final bill unless strong objections are raised," Collinsworth said today.

Despite strong criticism from the Bush administration, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday that would establish a federal list of the nation's most expensive colleges and crack down on the way student loan companies try to curry favor with college officials and gain access to their students.

The bill, approved on a bipartisan vote of 354 to 58, broadly seeks to hold down costs at colleges by dissuading them from raising tuition. It would require the federal Education Department to publish a list of the most expensive colleges, and it would cut down on states' eligibility for new federal grants if the states reduced financing for public colleges.

The administration has opposed many provisions in the measure, including one that would limit the Education Department's authority to regulate colleges through accreditation. But the White House has stopped short of a veto threat. Similar legislation has passed the Senate.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke strongly in favor of fighting rising college costs.

"The bill will create a higher education system that is more affordable and easier to navigate for consumers," said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the education committee.

Representative Howard P. McKeon of California, the committee's ranking Republican, praised the bill, even as he criticized Democrats for blocking amendments offered by Republicans...

A federal judge in Spokane heard arguments Tuesday over whether to send a team of defense attorneys, prosecutors and investigators to Africa at taxpayers' expense as part of the forthcoming criminal trial of the accused operators of a diploma mill.

Defense attorneys for Dixie and Steve Randock want to take sworn statements from top-ranking Liberian officials, including a former ambassador who was videotaped taking cash bribes from a diploma-mill co-conspirator in a Washington, D.C., hotel room.

The defense team argues the Liberia trip is essential for a fair trial – to show that the Randocks believed their various online universities were accredited by the National Board of Education in Liberia.

"We need these (Liberian) witnesses to prove they weren't bribed," defense attorney Phillip "Dutch" Wetzel told the court.

But federal prosecutor George Jacobs said the Liberian "accreditation" was nothing more than a lie on top of other lies perpetrated by the defendants, who routinely manufactured degrees and transcripts bearing signatures of fictitious university officials, along with counterfeit diplomas from legitimate U.S. universities.

The testimony from the Liberian officials would be "irrelevant, speculative and inadmissible," Jacobs said.

Arguments on the defense request to travel to the African country came after Judge Lonny Suko issued a 27-page ruling, denying an earlier defense motion to toss out evidence seized in March 2005 by a federal task force in the basement of a Post Falls office building.

That evidence included billing records and names of individuals who purchased college degrees and accompanying transcripts from 125 universities operated by the defendants.

The evidence, contained in cardboard boxes, was in an unsecured basement hallway, accessible to other building tenants and adjoining an office rented by the Randocks.

Investigators got a search warrant to seize the evidence but left those documents with the building owner, not the Randocks.

Using a ruse to keep their investigation secret, agents left a scribbled note on the hallway wall, saying the boxes of documents had been taken to a landfill by an "angry tenant."

Suko ruled that the government had a "legitimate justification for its deception" to keep an ongoing investigation secret.

"This is not a case where the government engineered and directed the criminal enterprise from start to finish or where the police employed physical or psychological coercion against the defendants," the judge said.

His ruling was a setback for defense attorneys, who argued the evidence seizure involved "police misconduct" and shouldn't be used at trial. Suko didn't immediately rule on the Liberian trip.

The judge scheduled another hearing for Friday and is expected to rule then or within days.

Wetzel attempted to bolster his argument for the trip with testimony from defense investigator Brian R. Breen, a retired Spokane police detective.

He spent 16 days in Liberia late last year, tracking down and interviewing some of the witnesses.

Breen hired a driver and a bodyguard during his trip to the war-torn African nation, but he testified that he's been to other places "where I was more concerned about my safety."

He said he saw U.N. peace-keeping troops and bomb-scarred roads. Breen also said that he didn't see much evidence of Western influence and was frequently approached by beggars, "but my impression was they really liked Americans."

Wetzel also used a telephone conference to elicit testimony from Miguel Caridad, an assistant federal defender in Miami, who has made three trips to Liberia in preparing a defense for Charles Emmanuel, who is accused in the United States of torturing people in Liberia between 1999 and 2003.

"I thought it was very safe," Caridad said of his trips to Liberia.

Caridad was interviewing victim-witnesses, not Liberian officials who may have broken U.S. laws by accepting bribes, Jacobs countered, calling U.S. Secret Service Agent John Neirinckx to testify.

Neirinckx, the lead investigator in the diploma mill case, testified that his consultation with other U.S. officials has led him to conclude there would be "safety concerns" for U.S. Justice Department personnel if they went to Liberia...

A Rixensart, un vieux scientifique russe distribue des diplômes et titres. Un vrai moulin à diplômes. Même l'ex-dictateur du Turkménistan en a reçu un.

Avenue des Azalées à Rixensart. Un beau quartier près des grands magasins et du cinéma. Une villa anodine et défraîchie.

Nous voici pourtant au quartier général de l'Académie européenne d'Informatisation (AEI). Son président, Eduard Evreinov, 80 ans, de nationalité russe, nous reçoit sans sourciller. Il emmène le visiteur directement dans une pièce en contrebas. Son modeste bureau et son ordinateur représentent le campus de cette université virtuelle qui distribue des diplômes à tire-larigot et donne des migraines aux responsables de la Direction générale de l'Enseignement en Communauté française.

M.Evreinov a obtenu en 1999, grâce à un avocat anversois, la personnalité civile pour son Académie. Un an plus tard, il débarquait en Belgique avec un statut de résident étranger. Sa notoriété de scientifique est grande et prestigieuse. Il a obtenu le prix Lénine en 1957. Mais ce qu'il va entreprendre en Belgique, dans un pays où la protection des titres universitaires est couverte encore par une loi de 1933 et où règne une très grande liberté d'enseignement, relève de la plus grande plaisanterie.

Selon ses statuts, l'Académie est "une association internationale à but philanthropique, scientifique et pédagogique" qui n'a pas de but lucratif. Elle se propose, comme objectif suprême, "la formation d'un espace d'information mondial uni" et de dispenser des cours dans à peu près toutes les disciplines possibles, du cinéma jusqu'à la communication sous-marine.

Un moulin à diplômes

Mais surtout, l'Académie est ce que les Américains appellent un " moulin à diplômes ". En quelques années, l'Académie a distribué des centaines de diplômes à des gens qui, pour certains, n'avaient aucune qualification scientifique. Evreinov assure, sur ses multiples sites Internet, que pour recevoir un " Grand Doctorat " de l'Académie - appellation qui n'existe pas dans le monde universitaire belge -, il faut notamment avoir publié de 15 à 20 articles scientifiques et " trouvé une solution originale à un quelconque problème" . Il insiste sur le fait que les diplômes sont délivrés par des recteurs d'université.

A lire la liste des récipendiaires cependant, le bien-fondé de cette démarche paraît complètement fantaisiste et semble servir l'ego des heureux élus, généralement des personnalités importantes en Russie. Ainsi l'ancien dictateur du Turkménistan, Saparmourad Niazov, a reçu le grade d'académicien pour "son apport éclairé à la démocratie en Turkménistan"... On retrouve aussi les noms de l'ex-ministre russe Vladimir Boulgak et du maire de Moscou Youri Loujkov.

L'Académie - qui opère aussi sous le nom de World Information Distributed University (WIDU) - a également accordé en 2001 un certificat et une médaille à l'ancien secrétaire général de l'Onu, Kofi Annan qui a promis, dans une lettre de remerciement, de continuer à "aider à résoudre les problèmes globaux". Deux Belges - Pierre-Henry Wigny, aujourd'hui décédé, et Guy Massange de Collombs, pendant trois à quatre mois en 2000 - ont figuré parmi les membres fondateurs de l'Académie.

"La Belgique est un pays très libre pour moi", dit Eduard Evreinov. "J'essaie d'introduire un nouveau système en Belgique. Mais c'est très difficile. Le gouvernement belge ne le veut pas. Nous n'avons pas de diplômés en Belgique", assure-t-il.

Malgré de nombreuses lettres de requête, Evreinov n'a jamais reçu la moindre agréation de la Communauté française. Il n'a pas plus obtenu la naturalisation belge, étant, dit-il, "trop vieux et un peu sourd".

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In Rixensart, an old Russian scientist distributes diplomas and degrees. A real diploma mill. Even the former dictator of Turkmenistan has received one of them.

Avenue of azaleas in Rixensart. A nice neighborhood close to the department stores and cinema. A faded house.

Here we are at the headquarters of the European Academy of Informatisation (AEI). Its president, Eduard Evreinov, 80 years of Russian nationality, greets us without winking. He brings the visitor to a room directly below. His modest office and computer are the campus of the virtual university that distributes diplomas to his heart's content and gives migraines to officials of the General Directorate of Education in the French Community.

Mr. Evreinov won in 1999, thanks to a lawyer in Antwerp, civil status for his Academy. A year later, he landed in Belgium with a foreign resident's status. His reputation as a scientist is significant. He won the Lenin prize in 1957. But what he will undertake in Belgium, in a country where the protection of academic titles is still covered by a law passed in 1933, where there is a great tradition of academic freedom, is a big joke.

According to its statutes, the Academy is "an international association with philanthropic, scientific and educational goals", which is not-for-profit. It describes its primary objectives as "the creation of a global unified information space" and the offering of courses in almost every discipline possible, ranging from film to submarine communication.

A diploma mill

But above all, the Academy is what Americans call a "diploma mill." Within a few years, the Academy has distributed hundreds of diplomas to people who, for some, had no scientific qualifications. Evreinov assures, on his various Internet sites, that to receive the "Grand Doctorate" of the Academy - a title that does not exist in the Belgian academic - you must have published 15 to 20 scientific papers and found an original solution to some problem. " He maintains that diplomas are issued by the administration of a university.

To read the list of rcipients however, the merits of this approach seems completely fanciful and seems to serve the ego of the chosen, usually important people in Russia. As the former dictator of Turkmenistan, Saparmurad Niyazov, has been given the rank of Academician for "his enlightened contributions to democracy in Turkmenistan" ... There are also the names of the former Russian Minister Vladimir Boulgak and the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov.

The Academy - which also operates under the name World Information Distributed University (WIDU) - also granted in 2001 a certificate and a medal to the former secretary general of the UN, Kofi Annan, who has promised in a letter of thanks, to continue to "help solve global problems." Two Belgians - Pierre-Henry Wigny, now deceased, and Guy Massange of Collombs for three to four months in 2000 - were among the founding members of the Academy.

"Belgium is a country that is very open for me," says Eduard Evreinov. "I am trying to introduce a new system in Belgium. But it is very difficult. The Belgian government does not want it. We have no graduates in Belgium," he assures.

Despite numerous letters of complaint Evreinov never received any approval of the French Community. He has not become a naturalized Belgian because, he says, he is "too old and a little deaf."

The court could decide on the candidate's eligibility by early February.

David P. Aey says he's proved he has the qualifications to be Mahoning County sheriff, and questions why the incumbent won't accept that.

As promised, attorneys for Sheriff Randall A. Wellington filed a legal motion in the Ohio Supreme Court asking that the Mahoning County Board of Elections remove Aey's name from the March 4 Democratic primary.

The elections board ruled Friday that Aey, of Boardman, is eligible to run for sheriff over the protest of Wellington. After the hearing, Wellington said he'd quickly file legal action with the court.

"I am on the ballot, and the voters of Mahoning County have a right to choose their elected officials by voting on March 4," Aey said. "Mr. Wellington does not want to give the voters that same right. I find that insulting."

Aey says he wants to debate Wellington on issues such as stopping violent crime, properly running the county jail and spending tax dollars in a lawful way.

"That's fine," Wellington said. "My main issue is to prove he's not qualified to run for sheriff."

Wellington, of Youngstown, contends Aey doesn't meet minimum supervisory requirements under state law to be a sheriff candidate.

Citing a 1996 Ohio Supreme Court decision that states they "must liberally construe in favor of the person seeking to hold office," elections board members voted to keep Aey on the ballot.

In Tuesday's filing, Wellington's attorneys said the elections board ignored a 2000 Supreme Court decision that says the requirements to be sheriff are not subject to "interpretative rules."

The elections board will file a response with the court, which could rule on Aey's eligibility as soon as early February. The Democratic primary is March 4. Aey and Wellington are the only candidates in that primary. Republicans didn't field a sheriff candidate. The independent candidate filing deadline is March 3.

Eligible sheriff candidates must either have at least two years of supervisory experience as a peace officer at the rank of corporal or above, or have served at the rank of sergeant or above in the five-year period before the filing deadline. If a candidate has neither of those, he must have at least two years of post-secondary education from an accredited college or university.

Aey's attorneys acknowledged their client doesn't meet the educational qualifications. Aey received a diploma from Belford University, called an online diploma mill by experts.

Aey never rose above the rank of deputy during his 15 years with the sheriff's department. But the elections board determined that his time as a field supervisor for the U.S. Marshals Service's Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force was equivalent experience.

A throng of supporters showed up at the Legislature yesterday to testify in favor of Paul Suba's appointment as chief of the Guam Police Department, but there were a few critics who questioned his management principles, ethics, and attempt to use a degree from a bogus online institution to pad his credentials.

Among those who endorsed the confirmation were Homeland Security advisor Dennis Santo Tomas, University of Guam Prof. Ron McNinch, police commander Joaquin Reyes, businessman Joey Lopez, and private citizen Cole Hendon, who all attested to Suba's leadership skills, professionalism, and dedication to his duty.

"He's shown his sincere dedication to serving first hand on the front lines when called to duty. We need people like Paul to help us in moving the island toward progress," Santo Tomas told the public safety committee, chaired by Sen. Ray Tenorio, R-Yigo.

"I know this man to have a good heart and his leadership will greatly enhance the Guam Police Department," Reyes said.

Lopez said he is convinced that if confirmed, Suba would further try to do his best within the limited resources that GPD has.

McNinch, for his part, described Suba as "a true hero," adding that "we don't appreciate him as much as we should."

Criticism

But Ben Pangelinan, D-Barrigada, criticized Suba for endorsing a budget reduction for GPD, which the senator said has always been shortchanged.

The chorus of support for Suba was further interrupted by tirades from Tumon precinct commander Lt. Fred Bordallo, who raised questions about the acting police chief's higher education, ethics in government, and management principles, which he said "have caused me to oppose the confirmation."

Bordallo revived the issue regarding Suba's degree from Rochville University, an online institution that is believed to be a bogus diploma mill.

"The Department of Administration rejected Captain Paul Suba's documents indicating he obtained his college degree at Rochville University as an institution of higher learning during his application for Police Major. Captain Suba went on record in media interviews that he would investigate this institution because he 'felt duped,'" Bordallo said.

He said his own research revealed that Rochville University has also "graduated" a terrorist.

"I believe that it is the duty of you senators to examine the application packet of Captain Paul Suba, if in fact Rochville University is included as a listed education credential, that for the record it be noted that the Guam Legislature does not accept Rochville University as valid education credentials, and the applicant can take those documents or diploma, and take the appropriate disposition of them," he said...

A former deputy U.S. marshal who held a supervisory post in Spokane faces a federal criminal charge for allegedly using a bogus college degree he bought on the Internet to get a $16,000-a-year job promotion.

The case is the first criminal prosecution of an estimated 6,000 customers who bought degrees from about 125 bogus online universities operated out of Spokane and Post Falls, senior Justice Department officials said Monday. Some purchasers used their bogus degrees to get jobs and others used them for promotions.

David Floyd Brodhagen, who retired Dec. 23 from the U.S. Department of Justice at age 47, was charged four days later with "official writings" – making and delivering as true a statement knowing it contained false information. The federal misdemeanor carries a maximum of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and a year of supervised release.

"Brodhagen submitted an application for advancement within the U.S. Marshal's Service which contained a representation that he held a college degree from Saint Regis University," a criminal complaint says.

It also alleges the deputy marshal "presented the U.S. Marshal's Service with a transcript of courses taken and grades received from Saint Regis, which he then and there well knew was not a legitimate post-secondary institution."

The criminal complaint against Brodhagen was filed by Carl E. Rostad, a special attorney to the U.S. attorney general, who reviewed the results of an internal investigation by the U.S. Marshal's Service...

"Getting the degree is not fraud," Rostad said Monday when reached at his office in Great Falls. "It's how you use it that constitutes fraud, and that's what we're alleging here."

Brodhagen is expected to appear Jan. 24 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno – the same courtroom where the former deputy marshal guarded prisoners over the past two decades...

Brodhagen claimed to be a "Saint Regis University graduate" when he applied to move from a GS-12 position to the supervisory post, which was rated as GS-13, Kline said.

For 2006, the Office of Personnel Management listed the maximum pay for a GS-12 employee at $80,975 and a GS-13 at $96,292...

A former deputy U.S. marshal who bought a bogus college degree online and used it to get a $16,000-a-year job promotion is scheduled to plead guilty to a federal crime next week in U.S. District Court in Spokane, public records show.

David F. Brodhagen is scheduled to enter the plea next Tuesday before Senior U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour from the Western District of Washington. That date was rescheduled from Jan. 24.

The judge from Seattle was assigned the case after judges in the Eastern District of Washington, who all have worked with the 47-year-old deputy marshal in various criminal cases, recused themselves from his case.

Brodhagen retired from the U.S. Marshals Service on Dec. 23 and was charged four days later with "official writings,'' a federal charge accusing the public official of providing his employer, the U.S. Government, with a document containing false information.

It is the first criminal prosecution of an estimated 6,000 customers who bought phony college degrees from 125 so-called "online universities" operated by a Spokane-based diploma mill operation.

Eight members of the ring were indicted in 2005.

In a seven-page written plea agreement filed in court last week, Brodhagen said he intends to plead guilty to the federal misdemeanor. It carries a maximum possible sentence of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and a year of probation.

According to a criminal complaint, "Brodhagen submitted an application for advancement within the U.S. Marshal's Service which contained a representation that he held a college degree from Saint Regis University.''

He got the supervisory job in 2003, moving from a GS-12 rank with a 2006 salary of $80,975, to a GS-13 employee with an annual salary of $96,292.

In his plea agreement Brodhagen admits he "knew the information (he) provided was false."

If the court accepts the plea agreement, which it is not required to do, the government prosecutor will recommend Brodhagen be given two years of probation, 80 hours of community service and a $500 fine.

As part of the plea bargain, Brodhagen would waive his right to appeal any sentence he receives...

United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana
P.O. Box 1478
Billings, MT 59103

CONTACT
Jessica T. Fehr
Assistant U.S. Attorney
(406) 247-4637

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in the Eastern District of Washington on February 12, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour from the Western District of Washington, DAVID BRODHAGEN, a 48-year-old resident of Reardan, Washington, pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of false statement by a public official. Sentencing is set for June 10, 2008, in Spokane, Washington. He is currently released on special conditions.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On November 11, 2002, BRODHAGEN, a Deputy U.S. Marshal, submitted an Internet application to Saint Regis University. In this application, BRODHAGEN stated he wanted a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Science/Liberal Arts. BRODHAGEN paid $731 by credit card to obtain this degree. As part of his submission package, BRODHAGEN stated, "At this time in my career, I feel it is important to obtain a BA Degree. Without it, I will not be able to go further up in my career ladder. With only seven more years remaining before retirement, it is too late to go to the conventional route of a four year college. This is my primary reason for applying for a degree based upon my experience, training, and college education." St. Regis asked him which classes he wanted on his transcript and what grades he wanted reflected as having received.

The Internet application for Saint Regis University contained a warning stating that the applicant understands they are not enrolling in a school of any type and that Saint Regis University will not provide any representation of accreditation.

Approximately 21/2 months later, on or about January 28, 2003, BRODHAGEN applied for a position as the Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal in the Spokane, Washington, office of the United States Marshals Service. Within the job application, BRODHAGEN claimed he had a Bachelor's degree and was entitled to a 12 point rating indicative of such a degree. He also included a copy of a degree from Saint Regis University indicating he had obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice on June 5, 2002.

BRODHAGEN was interviewed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and stated he located Saint Regis University from an advertisement he read in a magazine. He went to their Internet site, completed their enrollment forms, and paid them $731 to obtain a college degree for "life experiences." He admitted that he never completed any classes from them. BRODHAGEN also stated he did not possess a Bachelor's degree from any other institution.

BRODHAGEN stated he also included a transcript of courses allegedly taken at Saint Regis University, even though he admitted he took no such classes. The transcript showed he completed 29 different classes and received between a "B" and an "A" for every class. The grade point average for his degree was shown on the transcript as 3.65. BRODHAGEN said Saint Regis had previously asked him what grade point average he desired on his transcript, and he told them 3.65.

BRODHAGEN signed a certificate at the end of his job application for promotion within the United States Marshals Service stating, "all information provided in the application are true, complete and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief."

BRODHAGEN told the OIG that a short time after submitting his promotion package, he noted in his Saint Regis University transcript a course entitled "Defense Class For Women," in which he received a grade of an "A-." BRODHAGEN realized he should never have received credit for this class as he was not a woman. He allegedly called the Marshals Service Human Resources Department and questioned an unknown female whether he could receive credit for this course and if the degree was in fact valid. She told him to call some other colleges to determine if they would accept his courses from Saint Regis University. BRODHAGEN subsequently called Concordia College, which he attended in 1994, and found they would not accept the Saint Regis courses.

BRODHAGEN said that over the course of several telephone calls with the unknown female in Human Resources, it was agreed upon that BRODHAGEN would not receive any credit in his promotion package for obtaining a four year degree from Saint Regis. BRODHAGEN claimed he subsequently submitted a revised education page to his promotion package showing he did not possess a four year college degree and his education points were downgraded from 12 points to 4 points.

BRODHAGEN was adamant that he initiated the inquiry with the female in the Human Resources Department concerning the validity of the Defense Class For Women credit and the validity of his degree.

Contact with the Chief of the Merit Promotion Department within the Marshals Service and two other employees was unsuccessful in determining who BRODHAGEN may have talked to about the Saint Regis degree. The Chief of the Merit Promotion Department said BRODHAGEN would have had to talk to her or the other women interviewed as they were the only people involved in the application and hiring process. She also noted that BRODHAGEN'S application package had been lost. [A copy of the application was retrieved from BRODHAGEN during the investigation].

BRODHAGEN was selected by the U.S. Marshal of the Spokane, Washington office for the position of Supervisory Deputy United States Marshal. The Marshal said whether BRODHAGEN had a Bachelor's degree never came up, nor was it an issue in him being selected for the position. He relied on the list of suitable candidates from the promotion packet provided to him by the career board to make his selection. He was not allowed to interview any candidates. The Marshal said it was to BRODHAGEN'S advantage in that he was the only candidate the Marshal knew.

BRODHAGEN claimed that, although he never took any classes from Saint Regis University, his life experiences, other college courses, and job experiences as a United States Marshal entitled him to the Bachelor's degree from Saint Regis University. BRODHAGEN said at the time, he believed the degree to be valid and that he did nothing wrong.

In October of 2007, BRODHAGEN took a polygraph examination to evaluate whether he could have sincerely believed that he could legitimately claim that he had a legitimate college degree. He failed conclusively, but made no admissions.

BRODHAGEN faces possible penalties of 1 year in prison, a $100,000 fine and 1 year supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl E. Rostad prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

# # # #

A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638

Operators of a Spokane-based diploma mill were counterfeiting and selling degrees and transcripts from some of the largest universities in the United States, in addition to cranking out degrees from fictitious online universities, new court filings say.

Dixie and Steve Randock, the Colbert couple who used a Hillyard print shop and a rented basement office in Post Falls, are accused of selling counterfeit degrees from the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M and George Washington University.

The Randocks face a June trial on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators believe the operation hauled in $5 million.

The revelation that the Randocks also sold counterfeit degrees and transcripts from bona fide universities is expected to stir interest among employers, university and college registrars and others in academic circles pressing for additional levels of validation for college degrees and transcripts.

Thomas C. Black, the registrar at Stanford University, said Monday the Spokane case points out the need for electronic validation of degrees and transcripts by employers and others.

"I join a number of my colleagues around the country in feeling at times enraged or deeply disturbed about credential fraud and the havoc caused by diploma mills," Black said in an e-mail.

"Some of us have gone beyond cease and desist orders to devise a new way to deliver and validate credentials electronically through digital signature technology," Black said, referring to the same technology that protects Internet e-commerce sites...

The sale of counterfeit degrees from legitimate universities is detailed in 250 pages of documents and exhibits just filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Jacobs, who is opposing a defense request to travel to Liberia. Defense attorneys for the Randocks and two other defendants want U.S. taxpayers to pick up the cost of sending them to Liberia to get sworn statements from seven of that country's high-ranking officials. The defense team claims the Randocks' online universities were "accredited by the National Board of Education" in Liberia.

It's essential to the defendants' rights to a fair trial, the defense argues, to travel to Liberia to question a Liberian Supreme Court justice and that country's former ambassador to the United States, Abdullah Dunbar, who was secretly videotaped accepting a cash bribe from a diploma-mill co-conspirator in a Washington, D.C., hotel room in 2005.

The federal prosecutor said it's irrelevant what accreditation the defendants believed they had because they "routinely manufactured degrees, transcripts and other academic products that bore the signatures of fictitious university officials." Dixie Randock used at least 11 aliases as part of the scheme, court documents say.

"The defendants also manufactured degrees in the names of legitimate universities operating in the United States," Jacobs wrote in his 22-page brief.

They counterfeited a bachelor's of science in criminal justice degree and an accompanying academic transcript in the name of the University of Maryland, and a bachelor's of business administration degree and transcript from the University of Tennessee, Jacobs said.

A counterfeit degree from Texas A&M University bore the signatures of two fictitious university officials, "Patrick O'Brien" and "James Cooper," two of the aliases used by Dixie Randock, Jacobs said.

At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Amy Blakely, assistant director of media relations, sounded stunned when reached for reaction.

"We've just heard of this and, if the allegations are true, we are disappointed that someone would use the university's name for such purposes," she said.

At the University of Maryland in College Park, spokesman Neil Tickner said senior university officials "don't want to comment, probably because it seems so obvious that it's a terrible thing."...

Almost half the colleges checked on an official list of approved providers for overseas students have been struck off, the government has said.

Following fears about bogus colleges, the government said it had inspected 256 colleges since 2005, leading to 124 being removed from the list.

There are about 2,000 private colleges on the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' register.

A place at one of these colleges is a means to getting a UK student visa.

A DIUS spokesman says that colleges on the register of education and training providers are now facing unannounced inspections.

'Dodgy'

But Conservative university spokesman, David Willetts, expressed concern that so many colleges on the government's approved list have turned out to be bogus.

"It begs the question of how they got on to the list in the first place and suggests the government's process for accrediting them is not up to scratch," said Mr Willetts.

A BBC investigation this week revealed an example of a college offering courses with no legitimate accreditation - described as "dodgy" by its own chancellor.

There has been a longstanding problem with bogus colleges - often either set up to sell fake degrees or else as part of an immigration and visa scam, allowing people to enter the UK as students.

The approved register of education providers was created in 2005 to prevent such abuses - requiring applicants for student visas to show that they would be attending a legitimate institution.

But this register, the gatekeeper for those seeking student visas, is now under scrutiny - with an unspecified number of bogus colleges among those removed from the list.

Dius says that the check ups, aimed at preventing bogus colleges, might also have found other technical reasons for removing the registration of institutions.

It also remains unclear how many of the remaining 1,750 colleges have ever been physically inspected before or after inclusion on this register.

Among those currently on the list is a college whose website content is mostly links to services including online gambling.

Fees

Bogus colleges charge overseas students thousands of pounds in fees for a place - which is then used as a way of entering or remaining in the UK on a student visa.

Such bogus colleges often claim to have well-equipped campuses, but in reality are operating from temporary office addresses. Websites can have pictures of college buildings or landscapes which are nothing like their authentic locations.

Overseas students are required to attend courses for at least 15 hours per week. But they are allowed to work - and their spouses and children are also entitled to work in the UK.

A DIUS spokesperson says that the integrity of the list is taken very seriously - and that the vast majority of private colleges are legitimate.

The introduction of unannounced inspections in November was intended to catch bogus colleges which might not really have the students, facilities and staff claimed when they registered.

But the list does not make any assurances about the quality of the education available at these institutions.

An international education scam that targets foreign students who come to study in the capital has been exposed by a BBC London investigation.

The bogus Irish International University (IIU), which offers sub-standard and worthless degrees, has been allowed to flourish in the UK - virtually unchecked by the government - for the last seven years.

Although the organisation is unaccredited, hundreds of students have been given educational visas to enter Britain and take its exams at private colleges in London.

The IIU, which has 5,000 students worldwide and thousands of graduates, maintains the illusion of a valid education through its elaborate but highly misleading website.

This illusion is enhanced by the university's continued use of Oxford and Cambridge facilities to stage its award ceremonies.

After each event photographs appear on the IIU website showing happy students receiving awards at the UK's best seats of learning.

Our investigation took us from London to Dublin, Oxford and finally Monte Carlo in search of those behind the IIU.

A BBC journalist and an actor posing as fake academic were invited to the IIU's award ceremony which, surprisingly, was held at the Divinity School, next to the Bodleian Library, in the very heart of Oxford University.

The ceremony was due to go ahead at Cambridge, but after BBC London alerted the university authorities the event was cancelled. That did not stop the IIU switching venues to Oxford at the last minute.

Dublin campus?

In Oxford, our journalist and actor secretly filmed the award ceremony and recorded meetings with university boss and Executive President Professor Hardeep Singh Sandhu, a Malaysian businessman and faculty member Dr Edwin Varo.

Dr Varo, told us that the IIU was not bogus and was registered in Ireland and that it had applied to the government and had been given approval to use the word university.

In Dublin, Sean O'Foghlu, Chief Executive of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, told BBC London: "To use the word university in a title it needs approval from our Department of Education and Science - no such approval has been given by our department."

The university website clearly stated that the university had a campus in Dublin. We visited the address given by the IIU on its website - there was no campus, just a mailbox.

The website also claimed that the IIU's educational programmes were accredited and quality controlled by the impressive sounding QAC-UK Ltd - the Quality Assurance Commission, based in North London.

During secretly filmed meetings, Professor Sandhu told our undercover team that the QAC was an "independent body" that maintained the quality of education in the UK and elsewhere.

Faculty member, Dr Varo explained that the QAC staff: "Focus more on your curriculum - on your teaching; focus on your evaluation - they focus on your faculty - who are your faculty - what amount of real teaching takes place."

The QAC website listed an impressive roll-call of staff including the QAC Commissioner General and an Acting Commissioner General.

Our reporter visited the QAC and instead of finding a commissioner general we found four telephonists fielding calls for countless companies at yet another virtual office.

A further check at Companies House revealed that far from the being "independent" the QAC is in fact owned by university boss Professor Dr Sandhu.

Bona fide academic, Professor Geoffrey Alderman, gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the subject of bogus institutions.

He told us: "Some of these colleges will say, 'sure we're accredited', but when you say 'by whom?', they name an accrediting institution which in fact they themselves own."

University boss Professor Sandhu, who sits on the governing council is a Doctor of Letters, a doctorate awarded by another unaccredited university based in the Caribbean.

His professorship is "honorary", awarded by a European association set up to give out professorships.

On the website he also called himself "Sir H Sandhu" but his knighthood was not bestowed on him by the Queen.

One person missing from the Oxford award ceremony was the university's Honorary Chancellor, His Excellency Baron Knowth - real name Professor Jeffrey Wooller - a successful chartered accountant from London.

Professor Wooller, a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, owns a £1.2m townhouse in Kensington but spends most of his time living as a tax exile in Monte Carlo.

Our actor, again posing as a fake academic, arranged to meet Professor Wooller, at a hotel in Monaco. We secretly filmed this meeting.

'Dreamt up'

He told our fake academic that the IIU was not "recognised anywhere".

He admitted to our actor that the website was an illusion: "When you look at the website, it's a figment of someone's imagination. Someone's dreamt up what a university should look like, and that's what's on the website."

Professor Wooller told us that students paid a lot of money to attend the award ceremonies, adding: "If you can mention Oxford, Cambridge then the whole world thinks that it must be a good university."

He then said of the university's operation: "The whole thing's dodgy." He even said that the IIU's governing council, of which he and Professor Sandhu are both members, did not exist.

A BBC London reporter then confronted Professor Wooller:

Reporter: You said the whole thing is dodgy.

Mr Wooller: It is dodgy!

Reporter: Oh so you admit it's dodgy?

Mr Wooller: Of course it's dodgy.

He also told our reporter that he had been given his professorship by the IIU and that he had bought his "Baron" title.

Professor Wooller refused to quit as honorary chancellor stating that most IIU students were happy and that the university was good value for money.

Professor John Arnold of Loughborough University has seen coursework from an IIU graduate.

He said: "Students are paying for this, what I would regard as worthless and bogus qualifications. I would say buyer beware from the point of view of students.

"You know I really think that they'll probably be getting qualifications which are unlikely to be taken seriously at least in Western Europe."

'Banned'

Following BBC London's investigation the IIU will now no longer be allowed to use Oxford and Cambridge's facilities to stage their award ceremonies.

Oxford University issued a statement stating that they would not be renting its facilities to the Irish International University in the future.

The IIU website survives but since our investigation it has undergone a radical overhaul.

The reference to a Dublin campus has been removed, the QAC is "no longer involved with the Irish International University" and its logo no longer appears on the website.

Professor Sandhu told BBC London that the university will not renew its affiliations with any private colleges in London.

The government is promising that by 2009 all colleges wishing to bring overseas applicants into the country will need to be accredited.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said: "Our universities are rightly regarded as world class and any attempt by bogus institutions or conmen to tarnish this hard won reputation will not be tolerated.

"The UK has some of the toughest regulations in the world governing the award of higher education qualifications. The vast majority of private colleges in London operate lawfully and provide a high-quality service to their students.

"We are working very hard on behalf of students to ensure that all private institutions meet strict quality standards.

"Where we are not satisfied that this is the case with a particular college, we will not hesitate to investigate and if necessary, close it down.

"I would encourage all new students to carefully check the credentials of the college they wish to enrol at and if they have any concerns, contact their local trading standards team."

APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The National Commission on Higher Education has closed down several 'universities' in the country for failing to meet the minimum requirements set by the Ministry of Education, APA has learnt here.

Making the disclosure to reporters in Monrovia this week, the Director General of the National Commission on Higher Education, Dr. Michel P Slawon named the affected universities as Berea Theological Seminary, Vision International University and Bible College, St. Martin College of Career Development, C.C. Pennoh Community College on Gurley Street, Liberty Theological Seminary , Liberia College of Professional Studies, Liberia College of Technology, Lloyd Faulkner Theological Seminary and ALL Charismatic Theological Seminary all located in the capital Monrovia.

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