4 Ghanaians arrested in the U.S. for allegedly forging papers to enter university

Authorities in the United States have arrested four Ghanaian students for allegedly forging high school transcripts to secure admission to Lehigh University, Pennsylvania.

The students, Otis Opoku, Evans Oppong, Cyrilstan Nomobon Sowah-Nai, and Henry Dabuo, are now facing charges of forgery and theft of services, with bail set at $100,000 each.

The investigation was triggered when discrepancies were discovered in the application of Jude Dabuo, Henry Dabuo’s younger brother, who was set to begin studies at the university this year. According to court documents, Lehigh’s Vice Provost of Admissions and Financial Aid, Dan Werner, reported concerns to the Lehigh University Police Department (LUPD) on 23rd August 2024 after noticing errors in Jude's transcripts. Upon further scrutiny, university officials found similar issues in the transcripts submitted by Henry, prompting a wider review of credentials submitted by other Ghanaian students associated with the group.

“The Admissions Office discovered concerning format, markings, and spelling errors on Jude Dabuo’s transcript, leading them to question its validity,” according to the court records, as reported by thebrownandwhite.com, a media outlet of Lehigh University.

Otis Opoku, who has been a student at Lehigh since 2022, was found to have received financial aid amounting to $212,933.30. Both Sowah-Nai and Dabuo, who joined the university in 2023, had been awarded $127,213.70 and $129,244 in financial aid, respectively. State prosecutors allege that the students submitted falsified documents that significantly inflated their high school grades to gain admission and receive substantial financial aid packages.

The investigation into Henry Dabuo’s transcripts led officials to also review those of his high school classmate, Otis Opoku. “They found the same markings, format, and spelling errors” in his records, further raising suspicions.

Further checks on the transcripts of Evans Oppong and Cyrilstan Nomobon Sowah-Nai revealed similar discrepancies. The university’s admissions office confirmed that the official transcripts obtained from the students’ high schools in Ghana did not match the documents they had submitted during the application process. The forged transcripts were “materially different” from the originals, according to the report.

The students were arrested on 6th September 2024 and are currently being held at Northampton County Jail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for 24th September 2024.

In response to the arrests, a GoFundMe page was created on 15th September 2024 in support of the four students. The case has sparked conversations around the vetting processes for international student admissions and the integrity of financial aid applications at U.S. universities.

As the legal proceedings continue, this incident is likely to attract attention both in Ghana and the United States, shedding light on how academic credentials are verified in international admissions.

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