Four cases in which students had forged degree certificates and mark lists to secure admission and employment have been detected in Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) since 2020.
Three students, who had completed B.Tech at the School of Engineering and failed to clear the final year exam, were found to have created fake certificates to gain employment. A student from Kerala had used a fake certificate in the name of a university in Meghalaya to secure admission to the M.Tech programme in Instrumentation, according to reliable sources.
He had submitted the certificate of having passed the B.Tech course in Instrumentation from William Carey University in Meghalaya. The fraud came to light after the candidate failed to submit the original degree certificate and mark lists from the university before the first semester exam. He was given provisional admission to the 2022-24 batch of the M.Tech programme, and he had attended the first semester classes. He did not turn up on the campus after it became known that he had used a fake certificate to secure admission.
The alleged fraudulent act by the three B.Tech students came to light after their employers expressed doubts over the authenticity of the degree certificates submitted by them. Though they had a backlog of papers, the three had gained employment in various companies. On verification, it was found that they had forged degree certificates by using the registration number of their classmates, who had cleared the exam.
The illegal act was done during the pandemic after March 2020. The registration of the students was cancelled, and they were blacklisted. The matter was also reported to the police. The varsity has decided to start uploading more academic documents to the National Academic Depository to check fraudulent activities.
