A “Tan Sri” bought a bogus degree? No big deal -- a CEO of a private educational institution has four questionable PhDs!

The New Straits Times reported a “Tan Sri” was among 525 people who bought fake degrees. (http://www.nst.com.my/latest/cops-tracking-tan-sri-in-fake-degree-probe-1.113167). This is the tip of the iceberg, and there are bigger offenders than the 525 people. A company CEO of a private educational institution in PJ holds four PhDs, all from shady schools, and even a questionable Knighthood (not from Queen Elizabeth) which carries the title “Sir”.

His PhDs are from the following institutions:
--Honolulu University
--Pacific National University
--Virtual University
--Southern Pacific University

A bit of internet research revealed the following:

**Wikipedia states: “Degrees obtained from Honolulu University are illegal to use in the State of Texas.”

**Wikipedia states that a certain Pacific National University is a legit institution based in Russia but I don't know whether it’s the same institution this CEO graduated from.

**Virtual University is purportedly based in Liberia, Africa. (source: http://online.degree.net/archive/index.php/t-931.html).

**Postings on online.degree.net also states: “Virtual University (VU) is now an exclusive partner of Southern Pacific University (SPU) and all existing students of SPU would receive fully accredited joint degree award by SPU and VU. Virtual University (VU) in Monrovia is fully accredited by NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION and authorized by MINISTRY OF EDUCATION of Monrovia, WI.”

**Postings on http://www.degreeinfo.com/accreditation-discussions-ra-detc-state-approval-unaccredited-schools/20919-southern-pacific-university.html about Southern Pacific University states:
--“One more big scan running from Malaysia. 18 Branches! Huge branches.”
--“Southern Pacific University degrees are also heavily sold by Minerva Vietnam Ltd in Vietnam under the flagship of California based International Technological University (www.itu.edu), ACICS accredited University.”

Other cases I know of:

A former Member of Parliament (now deceased) held a PhD from Pacific Western University. Though not a true-blue diploma mill, Pacific Western University of Hawaii was closed by Hawaii state government in 2006. Currently, there is another institution of the same name (http://pacificwesternu.com/tution_fees.htm0. ).

Its tuition fees are as follows:
“Bachelor’s Degree (B.A., B.S.) $2,940
Bachelor’s Completion (for those students who enroll
with more than 94 transcript credits) $1,940
Master’s Degree (M.A., M.B.A.) $2,500
Doctoral Completion (for those students who enroll
with an M.A. and more than 20 transcripted credits) $2,940”

So cheap? No wonder degrees from such questionable schools are so tempting. (Note: its url suspiciously ends in dot com not dot edu.)

A fortune-teller who sports a moustache holds a PhD in feng shui and uses the honorific "Dr. Reverend" in his advertisements. He wouldn’t tell me the institution he earned it from except that it's an American university. Jeez...an American university can grant a PhD in such an esoteric field? Reverend? He wasn't ordained as a monk, was he?

Two years ago, a local pop singer was exposed as having a PhD from the bogus European Business School, and resigned as a director of a college.

Still interested to buy a bogus degree and possibly go to jail? You can pay by credit card. No coursework, no examinations. Here is a link:

http://www.buyaccrediteddegree.com/buy-accredited-degree-on

Want to get a legitimate, accredited ("Nationally Accredited") online degree from America? Yes, there are lessons, assignments and examinations. Go to the website of Distance Education Training Council (detc.org) which lists all accredited online universities. DETC is an association recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

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