In connection with the case involving the forgery of academic certificates and transcripts for Iraqi students, 12 suspects, all employees of the Ministry of Education, have been apprehended by members of the ISF Information Division.

A thorough investigation into the matter has been initiated, and it is anticipated that the number of detainees will rise, potentially including prominent individuals.

The investigation commenced with the submission of a report to the Financial Public Prosecutor, who subsequently referred the case to the Information Division. Investigators launched their inquiries, identifying multiple brokers involved in the issuance of forged academic certificates and transcripts.

These documents were being sold at varying prices, ranging from one thousand to five thousand dollars for each certificate.

Nine of these brokers have been arrested, and the technical branch affiliated with the Information Division extracted conversations from their phones. These conversations revealed negotiations with Ministry employees, discussing financial sums in exchange for obtaining forged academic certificates and transcripts.

Consequently, members of the Information Division surrounded the Directorate General of Higher Education, located on the sixth floor of the Ministry building. During the operation, two high-ranking employees from the University Approvals Secretariat and the Equivalency Committee Secretariat in higher education were apprehended. Among the detainees were also the representative of the Islamic University in the Ministry of Education, along with the former and current representatives of Al-Jinan University.

They were charged with bribery. Subsequently, one of the key female employees was also arrested, as investigations showed that she had received approximately 150,000 dollars annually from forgery activities.

According to "Al-Akhbar," Minister of Education Abbas Halabi relieved two individuals of their duties in the Ministry and appointed a third person to assume the responsibilities of the first two.

This issue had been previously raised last year when Alaa Attiya, the advisor to the Iraqi Minister of Higher Education, visited the Lebanese Ministry of Education. At that time, Attiya confirmed that some universities had registered large numbers of students, surpassing the available licenses' limits regarding the number of students and specialized professors.

The Directorate General of Higher Education has reviewed approximately 5,000 master's and doctoral theses submitted since 2021, with most of them being in the names of Iraqi students. Rejection of the authentication of certain certificates occurred not only due to the absence of standards but also due to forgery and manipulation of documents related to high school certificate equivalence. Brokers admitted to forging Ministry of Education stamps during the course of the investigation.