Riyadh newspaper I TOOK my time checking three catalogs full of fake degrees from different parts of the world. When the man selling them to me started clearing his throat audibly, I got the hint and spoke: “Well, I need a bachelor's degree from Cambridge University, a master's from the University of California, a diploma in English language from Oxford University and a transcript in Information Technology from Griffith University.” Taken aback by my rather large purchase, he offered to give me a 50 percent discount if I bought four more degrees. I laughed and asked, “Can you forge Saudi degrees?” To which he replied, “No, I can't because all my life I haven't seen a Saudi degree.” Appreciating his bluntness, I said, “You're an honest man, so I'll take an additional degree.” He asked if I was interested in a master's in economics and while giving him the $120, I told him to make sure it was from the University of South Australia so I can embitter my brother who has been studying there for the past few years. This dialog took place in a secret room annexed to a travel and tourism agency in Cambodia. I won't tell you how I came to know of this man. He only asked for two hours, which was sufficient time to forge the degrees with such accuracy that it was difficult to differentiate them from genuine ones. Every last detail from the type of paper used, to the font, seal, colors, signatures of the supervising professors, the embossed logo of the university and my humble name was duplicated with precise accuracy. It was truly a professional job! This was not the first time I had met a professional degree forger: 20 years ago I had a similar experience at Minnesota State, USA. While I declined the forger's offer the first time, I accepted it in the second instance with the intention of showing you these degrees at the earliest opportunity on a TV program. The whole experience confirms that degrees from prestigious universities can be easily forged even in developing countries. On this basis, we shouldn't be surprised when we hear of the existence of fake degrees in our society, which in terms of quantity and quality surpass the capabilities of the respective institutions that are tasked with sniffing out fake degrees. An example is the story published in Al-Riyadh newspaper on Thursday, April 17 on the results of the examinations set by the Saudi Commission for Engineers, in which over 700 candidates were disqualified after it was discovered that they held fake degrees from Europe, the US, Pakistan and India. If this is the number of fake degrees discovered in one day, then we have the right to ask how many go undetected and what about the degrees that were issued in the past? Surely they too should be verified. As to other parts of the world, these days the trials of the Norwegian extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in cold blood, has started. What people do not know, including Breivik's relatives, is that he was the biggest degree forger in Europe and made a fortune selling them to prominent officials in the US, Canada and the European Union. In Germany, Prof. Auf Kemnitz discovered 70 fake degrees and was nicknamed “the hunter of forgers” for his abilities to expose German politicians. It was due to him that German Defense Minister Karl Guttenberg resigned when he exposed the minister for plagiarizing most of his thesis from previous doctorate theses. As to current German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she did not send copies of her degrees. Meanwhile, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl replied, “Buy my printed thesis from the bookstore.” The question of concern to us is: What is the percentage of people in our country holding fake degrees? When will similar efforts appear in the Kingdom to scrutinize old degrees on whose basis they were appointed? Four years ago I had pointed out that the US Justice Department had published a list including 10,000 people holding fake degrees and these included 70 Saudi nationals at present occupying high posts. Why haven't we heard anything happening to the 70 Saudi nationals who were accused by the US Department of Justice in 2008 of obtaining fake degrees? __
