Switzerland : universities sell fakes diplomas

Everybody who is holding a false title incurs a penalty nevertheless the trade of false titles is growing especially in Switzerland. It is easy to promote at queer Universities - from € 20.000 onwards one could buy an academic title.

Examples are the two universities in the small city of Zug – 25.000 inhabitants but 40 financial- and 135 trust companies. These universities have no auditorium, no students or professors even no addresses or telephone numbers but they award a variety of academic titles: Master, Doctor, Professor – everything has its price and one can have one for a minimum of €20.000.

The ones who are interested will be lead to a web side and asked to fill and send the application form. There are worldwide around 2000 traders of academic titles but nowhere it’s easier to obtain a diploma than in Switzerland.

The most dubious University is the one of Teufen. It belongs to the company Cognos in Appenzell. But nobody is able to give detailed information about the owner.

In fact: everybody who is holding a false title of a not accredited University is violating the Paragraph 132 of the German criminal code and is risking an imprisonment. Some have disgraced themselves before it took so far: Thomas Kühr, former Managing Director of T-Venture (Telkom daughter company) had to return his “Swiss” Doctor title 2005, Udo Klein, CEO von BBDO Consulting, abstained from the doctor title of the University of Teufen as well as Thorsten Knopp, CFO of Grohe, the title of the University of Herisau. A CDU delegate of Berlin, Mario Czaja resigned due to his false diploma.

These Swiss Universities will get more and more competition in the future by the new EU countries in the east.

Sources: Spiegel 16th of July 2008