Bengaluru crime branch raids five organisations, seizes over 6,800 fake marksheets; 2 arrested

The raids were conducted after the CCB learnt that the organisations could have possibly associated with the universities or could have issued fake marksheets and degree certificates without conducting any examination and charged about Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 for the fake marksheets.

According to a press release issued by the CCB Friday, five teams were constituted on Wednesday to raid New Quest Technologies (Rajajinagar), Ssystem Quest (JP Nagar), Aruhi Institute (Bhadrappa Layout), Vishwa Jyothi College (Dasarahalli) and Benaka Correspondence (Vijayanagar), who were involved in the scam.

Apart from seizing over 6,800 certificates, the CCB also seized 22 laptops/computers and 12 mobile phones. The CCB arrested one Orva Asamy who runs New Quest Technologies and Ssystem Quest and is being investigated.

One Vikas Bhagath was booked in a cybercrime case under IPC sections 465, 468 and 471. The CCB stated that Bhagath registered his company Ssystem Quest under the Registrar of Companies and entered the nature of work as computer and software development. The company did not undertake any work in connection with education. Under the same ownership, he also opened branches across Bengaluru including Ssystem Quest (JP Nagar and Rajajinagar), Aruhi Institute (Bhadrappa Layout), Vishwa Jyothi College (Dasarahalli) and Benaka Correspondence (Vijayanagar).

The CCB stated that through evidences, it was found that Bhagath cheated students by falsely claiming that he had tie-ups with prestigious universities in different states and that he could provide various degree courses certificates and marksheets. Without conducting due examinations, Bhagath provided fake degree certificates and marksheets to students by taking money as per the degree courses they chose.

After the raid, it was found out that the organisations issued fake marksheets of 15 universities across the country, including some in Karnataka.

After preliminary investigations, CCB learnt that the accused had no approval or licence to issue marksheets in the name of universities and had openly flouted the law through a system network for years. The CCB is now investigating other associates involved in the fake marksheet network and other organisations in connection with the crime. The CCB also stated that the investigations against the accused will continue after registering a case in the cybercrime police station.

In December last year, the CCB busted a gang in Bengaluru which sold fake marksheets of nearly 18 universities across the country on WhatsApp and other platforms. The accused sold mark sheets of pre-University, BA, B Com, BSc, BBA, engineering, and MBA degrees of 18 universities across the country. They collected money ranging between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1,00,00 from aspirants and also sold PhD certificates for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. The police found that they made some students write examinations and for others, they sent them the question and answer papers to their homes.