A university professor has been found guilty in absentia of using a falsified doctorate, issued at a degree mill in Hawaii, though he has not been arrested since he has already fled the country.
The High Criminal Court sentenced the professor to five years behind bars on three counts of creating fraudulent official documents, forging the certificate and going on to knowingly use it as if it was genuine.
The 55-year-old Lebanese expatriate, who had taught statistics at a local university since 2006, has published dozens of academic papers in his name, all of which were listed on the university’s website.
He has also authored four statistics textbooks which are currently on sale on Amazon, Waterstones and Barnes and Nobel.
Authorities reportedly detected the fraud when the defendant’s employer applied to renew his contract five years ago, and submitted a copy of his PhD certificate from the American University of Hawaii.
An Education Ministry employee, who was tasked with confirming that the document was genuine, said she found it on a list of unaccredited educational institutions which was published on an American website.
She referred it to the ministry’s Authentication of Foreign Qualifications Department, which did not find the university on the data bank of the cultural attaché of the Bahraini Embassy in Washington, later going on to conclude that it was indeed bogus.
He had submitted the fake papers to the Foreign Ministry and his workplace in 2005, and the documents were covered with legitimate stamps and seals from three countries confirming its authenticity.
A US notary, the Lebanese Embassy in Bahrain and the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Directorate verified the PhD, which was even signed by the Consulate General of Lebanon in Los Angeles.
The GDN earlier reported that only one hearing took place in the Lebanese man’s trial, as neither he nor an attorney representing him ever appeared before judges.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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