The suspects appeared in court in the US on October 8
Three Ghanaian students who are charged with fabricating high school transcripts to get into Lehigh University were present in court for a preliminary hearing on October 8, 2024.
Evans Oppong, Henry Dabuo, and Otis Opoku, the former students, are being jailed at Northampton County Prison on allegations of forgery and theft of services.
On September 9, the Lehigh University Police Department took into custody the three individuals as well as Cyrilstan Nomobon Sowah-Nai, a fourth student from Ghana. The date of Sowah-Nai’s hearing is set for October 15.
Vice provost for admissions and financial assistance at Lehigh University, Dan Warner, stated during the hearing that disparities in the students’ transcripts were found through an internal assessment.
Warner raised concerns about the transcripts of the accused pupils, pointing out odd similarities and formatting errors.
Warner claims that while conducting inquiries, it was discovered that the student-provided transcripts had been substantially altered in comparison to official records obtained from Opoku Ware School in Kumasi, Ghana, a report by graphic.com.gh said.
The students received significant financial aid packages as a result of the manipulated transcripts, which revealed inflated grades; Oppong and Opoku each received $212,933, and Dabuo received $129,344.
Evan Hughes, the defense attorney, contested the evidence, claiming that the transcripts had not been properly verified in accordance with federal regulations governing foreign public records in the United States.
In addition, he questioned the involvement of other organizations in the kids’ application submission, speculating that problems with translation and processing might have played a part in the differences.
The arraignment is scheduled for November 7 after the judge deferred the hearing. The matter is still pending.
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