Former headmaster of Dong Do University in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi and his accomplices have been prosecuted for issuing hundreds of fake second bachelor’s degrees in English studies to illegally earn some US$310,000. 

The Supreme People’s Procuracy on Friday announced an indictment for prosecution of Duong Van Hoa, 38, the ex-principal, and his accessories on charges of “commission of fraud while performing duties.”

Hoa’s accomplices include two ex-vice principals Tran Kim Oanh and Le Ngoc Ha; Tran Ngoc Quang, former deputy head of the school’s Training and Student Management Department; Nguyen Thi Hue, former head of the Finance and Accounting Faculty; and former school officials Pham Van Thuy, Le Thi Thanh Tam, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thai, Ngo Quang Hien and Le Thi Luong.

One more defendant of the case is Tran Khac Hung, former board chairman of the university, who was determined as the mastermind of the crime.

Police have put Hung on their wanted list since August 2019 after he fled away.

From April 2018 to March 2019, Hung and his inferiors issued 429 fake degrees and two bogus certificates to earn over VND7.1 billion (around $310,000), although the school had yet to be licensed to train second bachelor’s degree courses, including those for English studies, the indictment said.

Dong Do University is seen from outside in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

Hoa was found having signed 429 fake bachelor’s diplomas, and investigators have verified the personal information of people who used 209 out of these counterfeit degrees.

Hoa also introduced to the group two people who needed to obtain fake diplomas, and signed a document to buy diploma templates from the Ministry of Education and Training for use in printing fake degrees.

With his acts in the case, Hoa was an active accomplice of Tran Khac Hung in the case, the indictment said.

As a vice headmaster, Oanh signed 16 lists of 287 people to be granted the fake diplomas and directed her staff to forge a decision on admission of students as part of the procedures for buying diploma templates from the Ministry of Education and Training.

Like Oanh, Ha was also found having signed 11 academic transcripts and 22 proposals for granting bogus degrees to 309 people, and directed her inferiors to do paperwork related to issuing fake diplomas.

The indictment also pointed out that the Ministry of Education and Training has not fulfilled its responsibilities in monitoring the implementation of enrollment and training regulations at the university.

“The ministry has not promptly directed the inspection and examination of Dong Do University's activities in accordance with applicable regulations,” the indictment said.

Therefore, inspectors under the Ministry of Public Security have requested to the ministry to consider handling those who are held accountable for the law-breaking at the university.

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