RGIA police have arrested Kathoj Ashok, managing director of a Hyderabad-based overseas education consultancy, and Pakiru Gopal Reddy, a student from Nalgonda, for their alleged involvement in a fake certificate racket. The scam was used to fraudulently secure admissions in foreign universities.
The case came to light when Pakiru Gopal Reddy was deported from Dallas Airport, US. Immigration officials identified discrepancies in his academic records. Upon questioning, Gopal admitted to using forged degree certificates procured from Dhanalaxmi Overseas Consultancy, located in Teachers Colony, BN Reddy Nagar, Hyderabad.
Investigations revealed that Ashok had been operating the racket for five years. In 2021, he collaborated with a forger in Kerala who supplied fake degrees, experience letters, and bank statements. Ashok charged students between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh per fake certificate, paying Rs 30,000 per document to the forger.
Gopal approached Ashok in August 2021 and obtained forged BSc (Computer Science) certificates allegedly from Madurai Kamaraj University for the years 2015 to 2018. He used these documents to gain admission to Webster University in the US, paying USD 28,000 (Rs 22 lakh) in tuition fees and studying for 15 months. However, his student visa was found invalid by US immigration authorities during a recent visit, leading to his deportation.
Further investigation revealed that Ashok had assisted nearly 15 students in securing admissions abroad using forged documents.
The police continue to investigate the extent of the racket.
