Four international students from Ghana have been arrested in the US for allegedly forging high school transcripts to gain admission to a university.
According to court records from Northampton County, the students had enrolled at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
The four students are facing charges of forgery and theft of services.
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The university’s student newspaper reported that the students have been identified as Otis Opoku, Evans Oppong, Cyrilstan Nomobon Sowah-Nai, and Henry Dabuo.
They are currently in the Northampton County Jail on charges of forgery and theft of services.
Prosecutors allege the students submitted falsified high school transcripts to Lehigh University’s Admissions Office, inflating their grades to secure their places at the prestigious private research institution. According to court documents, Opoku, a student since 2022, received financial aid totalling $212,933, while Sowah-Nai and Dabuo, who both started in 2023, were awarded financial assistance worth $127,213 and $129,244, respectively.
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The investigation began when Lehigh’s Vice Provost of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dan Warner, raised concerns about the legitimacy of a transcript submitted by Jude Dabuo, Henry Dabuo’s older brother, who had been admitted to the university for the upcoming semester.
Unusual markings, formatting, and spelling errors on the document led the Admissions Office to rescind Jude Dabuo’s admission and investigate his younger brother’s credentials. Further inquiries revealed similar discrepancies in the applications of the other three students.
The four students are currently being held on $100,000 bail.
Some people launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for their legal defence, including bail reduction, commissary expenses, and attorney fees. The page reports that Opoku and Oppong had earned spots on Lehigh’s Dean’s List in recent semesters, which requires GPAs of 3.6 or higher.
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Ghanaians abroad nabbed for fraud
A Ghanaian man in Belgium faced one year in prison because of alleged fraud during a driving test.
The man hired a lookalike to trick examiners and take the test on his behalf after failing 12 previous times.
In a separate case, six Ghanaians were arrested in the US for their involvement in cyber fraud and charged with laundering more than $50 million.
UG policy to sack students with CGPA below 1.00
YEN.com.gh reported that the University of Ghana, Legon, has a policy of sacking students who fail to achieve a CGPA of 1.00.
Admission for undergraduate students who do not achieve the stipulated minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average for progression to the next level of students will withdrawn.
The school says that if it withdraws an underperforming student’s admission, it will refund any fees already paid by the student.
Source: YEN.com.gh
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Publish date : 2024-09-16 22:04:00
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