Nine suspects stood trial at a local court in
Beijing yesterday for selling fake degree certificates from universities in the
United States to defraud people of about 3.4 million yuan (US$540,000).
The
suspects swindled more than 30 people across the country, including some senior
executives of big enterprises, by selling them fake doctorates or master's
degree certificates from foreign universities between 2007 and 2010.
They
were charged with fraud, according to prosecutors from Beijing's Haidian
district.
The
indictment said Liao Huangqi and Li Yongqiang, two principal suspects in the
case, defrauded 2.82 million yuan and 587,400 yuan ($447,000 and $93,100),
respectively, while the other seven defendants cheated people out of about
500,000 yuan ($80,000).
During
Monday's trial at the people's court of Haidian district, the suspects accepted
the accusations and confessed, but disagreed on the amount of money that had
been defrauded, Zhou Yuanqing, an information official of the court, told China
Daily after the trial.
"The
trial lasted for about three hours, but the judge didn't impose
sentences," Zhou said.
She
said courts needed more time to hear the cases, but it was uncertain when the
trial would resume.
According
to the prosecutors, the nine suspects fabricated enrollment regulations for
some US colleges, including the University of Washington, and claimed they
could issue degree certificates from these schools as long as the applicants
paid money and did some training.
In
addition, Liao, 35, was once a victim and was cheated of about 65,000 yuan
($10,000) when he took part in a training class held by Li, 47, in 2006,
according to prosecutors.
However,
Liao did not call police after he got a fake foreign degree. Instead, he
collaborated with Li to go on with the cheating, the indictment said.
But
considering that Liao and Li confessed and reported other suspects' wrongdoings
after being arrested, the prosecutors suggested that the court give them
lighter punishment.
Zhao
Li, a Beijing-based lawyer specialising in criminal cases from Zhen Bang Law
Firm, said the fraud amount in this case is huge, which means that the suspects
may face at least 10-year sentences in line with the criminal law.
"The
punishments will be different in accordance with the suspect's roles as they
committed the crimes," Zhao said, adding that defrauding money by making
fake certificates has become common recently in China.
Liu
Yunshan, an associate professor at the graduate school of education at Peking
University, said that many people pay more attention to diplomas instead of to
the true nature of education, which is why these cases were happening.
"Now,
many people pursue seemingly fancy degrees or the surface value of certificates
while ignoring the real value of education, and this creates opportunities for
wrongdoers to commit the fraud," she said.
Cao Yin
China
Daily
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