Number of fake educational certificates on the decline

The Ministry of Higher Education, had discovered 1,200 cases of falsified educational qualifications between 2010 and 2016. But that number has now reduced drastically. According to the Ministry, all the false certificates were issued outside the Sultanate.

Rasha Al Abdali, the representative of Public Prosecution said, “According to Public Prosecution statistics, only five false certificates were discovered in 2017 while six were discovered in 2016. This means that the number of false certificates has decreased but it cannot be eliminated permanently.”
 

The representative further added, “The legal system has identified a number of procedures to deal with forged certificates. After the fraud is discovered by the Ministry of Higher Education or any of the other institutions concerned, it gets addressed by the Public Prosecution. The Prosecutor’s Office then sends these certificates to the Department of Investigation and Prosecution as they are the designated authorities who investigate these crimes."

Those found guilty of indulging in these crimes shall be punishable under the following sections: Article 183 of the Omani Penal Code states that the guilty who deal with official documents "shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than three years, and not more than five years for those who use false official papers knowing that it is false.”

While Article 184 in connection with customary documents states that, “Any person who commits fraud or uses a fraudulent paper with full knowledge, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than three months, and not more than two years.”

The cases of fraud vary between forgery of stamps and documents and cases of falsification of educational certificates to certificates issued by fake educational institutions. All the universities that are recognised by the ministry are available on the ministry's website and are updated constantly.