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US varsity cries foul over fake Dubai institute

DUBAI - The art of conning is developing like any other aspect of life in the modern age. In some cases it is done so skillfully that it could not be detected, unless by accident.

But in all cases, there would be victims even when the people cheated do not realise it immediately, such as in the case of cheating in education and trading in the future of students.

The practice, overall, is definitely intended and planned by the institutions using the names of foreign universities. The curiosity of an expatriate employee in Dubai who wanted to complete his studies and obtain a bachelor's degree in computers has accidentally exposed a Dubai-based institute, which was allegedly selling certificates in the name of American Global University (AGU).

For example, Shan, applied in April to A.D.M., which offers training services. He paid Dh1,500 to pursue a higher education programme and obtain a bachelor's degree in computers from an American university. "The need to learn more about the university egged me to access its web site, which says that they are not affiliated to any institute in the world. So I sent them an e-mail asking if they had any arrangement with the above mentioned institute," Mr Shan told Khaleej Times when contacted.

When he e-mailed his query, Mr Shan did not imagine that the university will act so strongly. On the other hand, the AGU did not take the matter lightly. "In fact, the e-mail was an eye-opener to us. It solved a big mystery for us. We were very surprised that in the past nine years we did not receive any application for admission from the UAE," Dr S.A. Samadani, AGU President, told Khaleej Times in a telephone interview from the US.

The university immediately placed a warning on its web site warning students to be aware that an entity called N.M.T.S. Institute in Dubai is illegally issuing and/or selling degrees and perhaps certificates on behalf of AGU.

"The AGU is not represented by or affiliated with N.M.T.S Institute or A.D.M. in any capacity," Dr Samadani said, adding that the university had dispatched letters to the American Embassy and a high-ranking political figure in the UAE. The letters stressed that the claims of affiliation with AGU are completely and blatantly false and that they harmed the university's reputation.

"We must pursue every legal remedy to end the dishonest activities of those who would use our good name to deceive and defraud the public. AGU's attorney and the Dubai authorities have been notified and legal action has been initiated," said the University's Vice-President, Dr Lane G. Roth, in the letter to the American ambassador.

Another letter was sent earlier this month to the political figure informing him of the serious allegations that have been made against entities operating with regard to AGU illicitly in the UAE. The letter made a clear reference to the director of the said institute and explained, "since AGU offers a high quality of education, it has seemed strange that we have not had even one student enrolment from the UAE. It now appears somewhat obvious that through the illegal and fraudulent activities of N.M.T.S. Institute, AGU's efforts to secure the enrolments of students have been severely impeded."

The university requested that the institute in question and its manager be investigated for fraudulent activities, brought to justice, and ordered to compensate the AGU for damages estimated at $5 million.

Dr Samadani told Khaleej Times that the same practice was followed by the institute director in Indonesia a few years ago. "Using AGU's name and logo, he sold thousands of degrees in Indonesia. He was operating out of a hotel room. He used to sell a PhD degree for $150. Our attorney forced him to remove AGU's name from his web site.

"I had been personally contacted by the same person a few years ago asking me if we was interested in affiliation. I declined his offer. In order to grant affiliation, we need to check the premises, meet the faculty and ensure that our programmes and evaluation systems are implemented. All legitimate AGU degrees and certificates emanate only from AGU's world headquarters in the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA," he said.

Dr Samadani added: "There are individuals and entities in Florida who claim affiliation with the AGU or attempted to use its name while offering for sale and selling degrees."

The director of the institute, Prof. V.A.K, when contacted by Khaleej Times, denied having any connection or affiliation with the AGU. "We do not have any affiliation arrangement with the said university. However, we are the accredited training centre of the American Global International University (AGIU) of Miami, and we used to offer courses and degrees from this university. But we stopped for the time being following instructions from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. We are not accepting any new applications for courses or degrees from AGIU, but we might in a few months," he said.

Juma Al Salami, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Private and Qualitative Education, said that the institute was not licenced by the ministry. "Accordingly, there is no liability on the ministry because it is not the licencing authority of the institute. The fact that this institute is practising an educational activity does not bring it under the jurisdiction of the ministry. Besides, the ministry has never attested any single certificate issued by the institute," he told Khaleej Times.

Refusing to comment if there was any sort of connection or relation between the said institute and the ministry before he joined, Mr Al Salami said: "My stand is very clear. I took office with the intention of performing my responsibilities and duties perfectly, and I am determined to clear away all sources of chaos and irregularities in the sector of private schools and private institutes which fall under our command."

He said that the ministry has copies of certificates issued by the institute and stamped with the name of the American Global International University in Miami. He added that he has prepared a comprehensive report including all the documents and facts he gathered about the said institute and submitted it to the Minister of Education and Youth.

Saif Rashid Al Mazroui, Director of Educational Programmes and Certificates Equation Department at the Education Ministry, revealed that the said institute is not licensed by the higher education authorities. "The ministry is not a supervisory authority over the institute and thus not responsible for its practices and activities," Mr Al Mazroui said.

He added that the institute is not the only educational establishment that offers higher education programmes. "The ministry has recently listed the unlicenced institutes offering university degrees and contacted the economic departments to take action against them," he said, noting that some institutes have stopped their illegal activities upon receiving the notifications.

Ali Ibrahim Mohammed, Deputy Director General of the Dubai Economic Development Department for Executive Affairs, did not deny the fact that the institute is licensed by them, but pointed to the difficulty of inspecting all the institutes on a regular basis.

"But whenever we receive a complaint against any institute, we immediately take action and investigate the matter and deal with it in all possible ways. Our policy does not encourage inspectors to break into the premises of institutes without any reason or without having received any complaints about their activities," Mr Mohammed said.

He added that when a complaint is investigated, he himself accompanies the director of the department on visits to the institutes in question. He specified the department did not receive any complaint concerning A.D.M. from the AGU, clarifying that they learned about the irregularities of the institute and its alleged fraudulent activities from the Khaleej Times reporter, hailing the role of the Press in revealing the facts and monitoring the violations. "In case we find that there is a clear violation, we will take the necessary action," he said. Mr Mohammed took a quick action by ordering the set up of a joint committee with the ministry to evaluate all the existing licensed private institutes. He stressed that all the trade licences require the prior approval of the ministry.