18-year-old held over fake diplomas

PHUKET: Police have arrested an 18-year-old Bangkok student and are checking whether Dulwich College certificates were among fake diplomas she is alleged to have sold over the Internet. Officers spent two weeks tracing the student through an email “sting”. They raided her Rachaburi home yesterday and found fake diplomas and certificates in her computer. The girl, named only as Daeng, told police that she was a senior at a private university in Bangkok and confessed that she sold the fakes at the suggestion of someone who sent her information via the Internet. The fake diplomas were on sale for as much as 20,000 baht apiece. The maximum penalty for selling such fakes is three years in jail and a fine of 6,000 baht. Kom Chad Luek newspaper reported today that the alarm was raised after the Ministry of University Affairs complained that many fake diplomas were being offered online. Another newspaper, Siang Tai, reported that Dulwich International College certificates were among those for sale. The Gazette was able to confirm that police visited the college today but were told that, because of the school vacation, official confirmation would have to wait until staff returned from their break.