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    03 August 2012| last updated at 11:29AM

    Tan Sri quizzed

    By G. SURACH | surach@nst.com.my

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    BOGUS DEGREES: Police want 525 who bought them to come forward

    SHAH ALAM: FORTY individuals, including a Tan Sri and several politicians, have had their statements recorded in an ongoing police investigation into fake academic degrees bought from an education institute in Subang Jaya.

    State deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said initial investigations by Commercial Crime Department officers showed the individuals had used a syndicate’s service to procure the scrolls. The scam was uncovered by Berita
    Harian in a series of reports last month. Last week, police raided two premises in Cheras and Subang Jaya and seized an assortment of computers and other equipment believed to have been used to produce the false documents. During the raids, two suspects—a 37-year-old company director and a 36-yearold woman — were detained.

    They were operating from an office in USJ 10 and believed to have raked in RM5 million by selling the fake scrolls since 2003. Thaiveegan said the two were released on police bail.

    He called on members of the public who had dealings with the syndicate to come forward to help police. “The degrees are not recognised by the government and are invalid.

    “Those who come forward to give evidence will not be arrested.” A total of 525 people, including VIPs, are believed to have “graduated” and received fake degrees without attending lectures, sitting examinations or submitting papers.

    The scrolls are believed to have been sold for RM6,500 for a bachelor’s degree, RM8,500 for a master’s and RM10,500 for a PhD. Recently, in another case, police revealed that 24 people paid RM4,888 each to a syndicate that sold fake Universiti Sains Malaysia degrees.

    Penang acting police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaffar had said they banked in the mmoney into eight accounts under the name of a man, one of the three suspects arrested. Higher Education Ministry director-general Professor Datuk Dr Rujhan Mustafa has called on all institutions of higher learning to implement security measures to avoid forgery.

    Selangor deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said initial investigations by Commercial Crime Department officers showed the individuals had used a syndicate’s service to procure the scrolls.

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