'Fake' university lecturer caught in UAE

A university lecturer has stood trial in an Abu Dhabi court for allegedly forging an education certificate for a doctorate degree.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the GCC national, a member of the faculty of media at the university, had been reported to authorities after his bosses found out that his doctorate papers were fake.
According to court records, the forgery was discovered when the defendant posted his doctoral thesis on social media, saying that he had earned his PhD degree from a well-known university in the region. He also published the names of his "thesis supervisors".
However, one of the supervisors raised a concern at the university, claiming that the PhD certificate must be fake as he had never handled the defendant's paper.
The Arab university then wrote to the UAE college where the GCC national was teaching and informed them about the alleged fake degree.
The man denied the charge in court, stressing that he studied at the university and worked on the thesis.
The defendant said that during his first visit to the Arab university in 2016, he was accompanied by his country's deputy ambassador and met with the president of the academic institution. He also said the president ordered his team to help him with the requirements, adding that it took him three years to complete the degree.
He claimed that he was shocked when he received the call from the university, asking him if he was aware that his PhD degree was fake.
The lecturer's lawyer argued that if there had been any discrepancy, it could be in the university's office for education services. He said it had been confirmed by the office that the discussion for his client's thesis paper was attended by an embassy employee.
The lawyer said the defendant never submitted the doctorate certificate to obtain the job or a promotion at the UAE university. He pointed out that there were also contradictory statements from the prosecutor's witnesses.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi