US embassy alerts Indian police to US visa forgery
December 22 2009 by Liam Clifford
Fake university degrees on sale in India, police notifiied over US visa scheme.
The US embassy
has alerted police in Chandigarh to a false US visa racket, which sells fake
academic degrees and certificates to prospective immigrants at inflated
prices.
The academic institution that was selling the fake degrees was
also selling certificates of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
and the Standardised Aptitude Test (SAT).
The US embassy was alerted to
the scam when a 21-year-old resident of Punjab came for an interview for a
non-immigrant student US visa. The student supplied a TOEFL certificate which
indicated that she scored 95 out of 120 in the test. However the consular
carrying out the interview found that her skills were not to the level shown on
her certificate. After closer examination the certificate was found to have been
produced through colour photocopying.
The girl and her brother then
admitted that she and her father had paid for the forged documents and that she
had never sat the TOEFL exam.
The Indian police are now looking at more
documents and intend to raid further institutions that may be carrying out
similar fraudulent activities. US immigration officials have asked that the
Indian police cooperate fully with the investigations.
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