'Fake diploma users tried to bribe lawyers'<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
At least five North Sumatra civil servants accused with 25 other
\ncivil servants and legislators of allegedly using fake university
\ndiplomas to advance their careers had attempted to bribe their
\nway out of facing charges, a lawyer said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Eddy Warman said that one of the five, currently
\nholding a top job in the North Sumatra provincial administration,
\nhad offered him a Rp 100-million bribe to get the case withdrawn.<\/p>\n
Warman, speaking at a seminar on educational crime in North
\nSumatra sponsored by the Medan Area University (UMA), said that
\nhe flatly rejected the offer. He did not say when the incident
\nhappened.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin vowed last month to
\ndismiss civil servants found guilty of using fake university
\ndiplomas.<\/p>\n
\"If there are civil servants using bogus diplomas, we will
\nremove them because it is a criminal act,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost in Medan, the provincial capital, on May 15.<\/p>\n
It is not unusual for civil servants to further their studies
\nafter office hours but some buy their university diplomas.<\/p>\n
Rizal said his administration was dealing with a number of
\nlocal officials accused of using counterfeit diplomas to get
\nhigher positions.<\/p>\n
As part of efforts to find those involved in the crime, the
\ngovernor ordered a full-swing probe into civil servants who had
\nallegedly used their academic documents to seek promotion.<\/p>\n
Local police had arrested at least 12 people suspected of
\nbelonging to a syndicate producing counterfeit diplomas.
\nTwo of the suspects were lecturers from the UMA and Nomensen
\nUniversity, both based in Medan.<\/p>\n
Warman said among the 30 suspected holders of bogus degrees he
\nreported to the police were senior officials at the provincial
\nand city administrations and legislators.<\/p>\n
\"One of them has even become head of a district in a certain
\nregency,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Warman added that based on the result of his investigation,
\nthe number of those using counterfeit UMA diplomas was actually
\nmore than the 30.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said he promised to submit a longer list of
\nsuspects to the police soon.<\/p>\n
Addressing the same seminar on Saturday, North Sumatra Police
\ndetective chief Sr. Comr. Iskandar Hasan said his office was
\nprocessing the cases of 30 fake diploma users.<\/p>\n
He said the dossiers of the 12 suspects charged with
\ninvolvement in the syndicate had been handed over to the local
\nprosecutor's office.<\/p>\n
\"By late June, the trial for the case will start,\" Iskandar
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He added that he suspected the syndicate to have produced fake
\ndiplomas for people from North Sumatra, Aceh, Riau and
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
An unnamed member of the Aceh Singkil district legislative
\ncouncil was among those suspected to have bought the bogus
\ndiplomas.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fake-diploma-users-tried-to-bribe-lawyers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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