Macedonia: Forged Diplomas Scandal Unfolds

Skopje | 10 March 2010 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic

Tetovo University

A controversial businesswoman from Macedonia’s northwestern town of Tetovo is suspected of forging diplomas and other documents from the public University of Tetovo and selling them to students from neighboring Albania.

Guler Sulejmani, 46, now faces criminal charges for fraud and forgery after the police found forged signatures and stamps of the university dean and several other professors on the forged diplomas, Macedonian police said.

According to the investigation, the “instant students” paid different amounts for their certificates depending on the grade average they wanted. The fee varied from €2,000 to €7,000.

The police say Sulejmani counterfeited at least 21 diplomas between 2003 and 2008. She is also suspected of forging passed exams in original student record books.

“She had access to the premises of the Tetovo University where she unlawfully obtained the diploma certificate forms as well as the forms for passed exams,” the interior ministry reported.

Sulejmani became known to the Macedonian public several years ago when she forcefully entered the university premises by claiming that she was the owner of a university building that was previously used by “Tetovo Tabak”, a tobacco company.

The police then detained her in relation to several thefts of “Tetovo Tabak” property. She claimed that she was the majority owner of the formerly state-owned company.

“By a court order, the police searched the premises of “Tetovo Tabak” and found large quantity of record books, diplomas and other documents. The investigation has shown that these documents were forgeries,” the police said.

Balkan Insight's 2008 investigation found the Albanian authorities were turning a blind eye to a black market in forged university degrees, many purporting to come from the University of Tetovo.

So far there are no data on how many of the phony students obtained a job as a result of their fake diplomas.