Prague, Sept 13 (CTK) – The police in Usti nad Labem, north Bohemia, have revealed a group that was forging school-leaving certificates and university diplomas that at least more than 20 people bought, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes yesterday.
The key persons in the gang were a married couple from Teplice, north Bohemia, who had made false school certificates years ago. Now they are being tried over it by court, MfD says.
The prices of the false certificates have varied.
The forgers were selling a secondary school-leaving certificate for 25,000 crowns, a Bachelor (Bc) degree for 50,000 crowns and a Master (MA) degree for 75,000 crowns, the paper adds.
“They have really proved ‘business spirit’ in their criminal activities. If someone wanted a secondary school-leaving certificate with a university diploma, they got a discount. Other clients could have a diploma price reduced by thousands of crowns for their travel costs,” Usti financial crime police chief Milan Kotrc told MfD.
The forgers had clients from the whole Czech Republic. They used couriers to deliver the forged diplomas, MfD says.
The couple has been taken into custody. The couriers have also been accused, but they are prosecuted without being taken into custody.
“We know about at least 50 people who wanted to buy a diploma or a school-leaving certificate from the gang. We have the transaction confirmed in 26 cases,” Kotrc said.
If found guilty, the charged gang members face up to six years in prison, MfD writes.
($1=24.074 crowns)
