UEW sacks postgraduate student into admission and certificate fraud 

The management of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) has sacked one of its postgraduate students, Frank Anderson, after the university discovered a serious admission and certificate fraud scheme linked to him. He was expelled from the university along with all students who benefitted from his illegal services.

The worrying discovery led to his expulsion from the university as a graduate student. In addition to this punitive action, the university has commenced legal proceedings against the alleged mastermind of the illegalities discovered.

The university has released an official statement on the matter and did state that the student who, until his rastication from the university, was an MPhil student in the Department of Special Education, was found to have engaged in several cases of admission fraud, certificate forgery, and the falsification of academic records.

“Mr. Frank Anderson has been withdrawn from his current programme of study at UEW,” the statement read. The university added that legal action is underway against him for “extortion, falsifying university documents, and issuing fraudulent admission letters.”

He, per the facts released by the university, engaged in all manner of illegal acts, which also included charging between GHS1000 and GHS3000 for “protocol admissions” into the university. He was also involved in resolving incomplete grade (IC) issues for students at a fee, an act that is also illegal.

Investigations by UEW identified Anderson as the ringleader of a network that targeted prospective students with promises to alter academic grades, resolve incomplete grade (IC) issues, and secure so-called “Protocol Admissions” for fees ranging from GHS 1,000 to GHS 3,000. His operations reportedly spanned Suhum, Mangoase, Nsawam, and Winneba.

Although the syndicate did not succeed in breaching UEW’s official grading system, OSIS 2, they produced fake PDF versions of student results and forged WASSCE certificates to facilitate fraudulent admissions.

The university has since revoked the admissions of all students found to have entered through these illegal means, and students who paid to have their grades altered have also been withdrawn.

Anderson is currently in custody and facing trial at the Winneba High Court for related offences. UEW stressed that he acted independently and without any authorisation from the university.

Reaffirming its commitment to academic integrity, the university stated: “The University of Education, Winneba, upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and does not condone fraudulent activities. We will continue to pursue and implement robust measures against such misconduct.”

Read: Apaak: 1st Year university students lose refund benefit

Management further assured the public of its collaboration with law enforcement to ensure all individuals involved face “the full consequences of the law”.

This “UEW postgraduate students who is into admission and certificate fraud” may be just a tip of the iceberg of the many illigalities going on in many tertiary institutions.

There are many students who have decided to use the back door to gain admission into tertiary institutions. Universities must engage in constant checks, audits and verification activities to uncover many of such fraudulent  certificates used to gain admission into the univerties.