MANAMA: A large number of public and private sector employees are holders of fake degrees from fictitious universities.
According to exclusive documents obtained by our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, many teachers, engineers, doctors, IT specialists and human resources directors of different nationalities used fake BA and MA degrees to secure important positions.
The documents also reveal that a big number of employees working in banks, public and private sectors holds fake degrees attributed to fictitious universities, particularly the “Columbus and Nixon” universities.
Akhbar Al Khaleej decided not to release the names of people involved in the degree scam, putting them at the disposal of authorities.
The New York Times recently released a list comprising more than 200 fictitious universities.
The US paper unearthed the list of fictitious varsities before authorities in Islamabad shut down Pakistan-based company Axact and arrested its executive director along with dozens of employees.
The now-dissolved firm was described as the empire of the fake degree business.
According to Akhbar Al Khaleej, the majority of employees with fake degrees are Asians and Arab nationals. The list of employees with fake qualifications also includes Bahraini citizens holding different positions.
Most of the holders of fake university degrees work as human resources directors in the public and private sectors.
Forged official seals were reportedly used to accredit and authenticate the fake degrees.
The majority of them contacted Axact, which was sealed a few months ago by the Pakistani authorities.
The New York Times said that it has compelling evidence which shows how Axact reaped millions of dollars, selling fake degrees to people in 100 countries, including some Arab states.
Akhbar Al Khaleej said it had scrutinised qualifications of senior directors, officials and employees in the public and private sectors and found compelling evidence involving dozens with fake degrees.
Some of the examples are:
– A human resources director with a fake degree from the fictitious Washington International University is working as a human resources director in Bahrain since 2002.
– An engineer works with a leading public sector company since 2010 with a forged BA degree from the fake Christopher University.
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