It is sad but true to inform the general public that four students from Ghana are in custody in the United States of America for forging their high school transcripts to be accepted in the Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
The students, including Evans Oppong, a participant in the National Science and Maths Quiz representing Prempeh College, have been charged with theft of service, acquisition of service forgery, and uttering forged writings.
The case was brought for probe after allegations were made that a transcript produced by one of the accused students’ older brother was perhaps fake.
This in turned spurred further investigation by the management of the university and neighbouring authorities where four other Ghanaian student’s applications were also found to have been fraudulent.
The arrested persons include Otis Opoku, Evans Oppong, Cyrilstan Sowah-Nai and Henry Dabuo.
From the sources of information, the students were expelled from Lehigh University and afterwards arrested by Northampton County Corrections Department.
These amongst others are forgery of documents so as to secure educational services brought on September 9th 2024.
They were arraigned before the Magisterial District Court; currently, they are in prison awaiting their trial.
The students are said to have their first hearing on 24th September 2024.
If convicted, these students can then be punished severely, maybe with imprisonment, and expelled to their country of origin.
The inclusion of Evans He is a renowned student in the Ghana academic fraternity because of his success in the 2021 Science And Math Quiz competition.
Some in Ghana are angry due to the news since Evans was expected to deliver the best because he is so on point in his academics.
He turned out to be a local icon after his performance in the competition, especially among Prempeh College enthusiasts.
He even gave a testimony after gaining admission to the University and encouraged the youth never to give up.
The news of the arrests has gone viral, especially in the social platforms in Ghana, as well as among the Ghanaian community within the diaspora, especially in the U.S.
Some of the supporters and friends of the detained students have come together to fund a GoFundMe page meant for the legal defense of the detained students.
In social media, postings were done by the involved students and teachers in fundraising for it, and many people expressed their disbelief and extended their support to the students
K Fosu The Informant is a lifestyle blogger with 6 years' experience in content and web development. He is a Google keyword planner, SEO analyst, an influencer and entrepreneur who holds BA Degree from Ghana's Premier University.
