Sale of false accreditation certificates: Three men remanded

PUTRAJAYA: Three men including an Indian national were remanded for five days from today to assist investigations into the issuance of false accreditation certificates bearing the names of several private higher education institutions (IPTS) in the country.
The remand order was issued by Magistrate Nik Muizzuddin Nik Muhammad following an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at the Putrajaya magistrate's court here today.
According to media reports, the trio, aged between 30 and 34, were picked up in a raid around Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur about 4 pm yesterday.
A source close to MACC said the suspects were believed to be the middlemen who handled the sale of the fake certificates.
The investigating team was now in the midst of identifying the person responsible for printing the certificates, the source said.
The source also said the syndicate was believed to have issued fake diploma, bachelor's degree and master's degree certificates without requiring someone to enrol into the courses.
They took only a week to produce the fake certificates which could be bought for between RM2,000 and RM16,000 depending on the types of certificate and which IPTS, he said.
It is learnt that the MACC was now investigating whether this was an insider job of the people from the IPTS involved.
All the suspects are being remanded under Section 16(a)(A) of the MACC Act 2009. — Bernama