By Terry Ting

A York University student is under investigation for allegedly committing an act of degree fraud. Third-year student Quami Frederick is under review for academic dishonesty after she allegedly submitted a degree that she never earned, for admission to Osgoode Law School. The Toronto Star reported on Dec. 13 that Frederick bought a BA degree in business administration from St. George’s University for $1,109 in 2004. St. George’s University, located in Grenada, has recently confirmed that Frederick did not attend the school.

“I am not allowed to comment on any media that is related to students,” said Alex Bilyk, director of media relations at York University. “When it comes to academic dishonesty, there are processes that are in place in order to follow with actions,” he added. “According to Quami, she has been summoned to a hearing by the associate dean of Osgoode and that they are intent on expelling her,” said Toronto Star reporter Dale Brazao. Frederick obtained the degree from a former diploma mill known as St. Regis University, which was shut down in 2005.

York University encourages employers to verify that a student’s degree status is authentic by contacting the registrar’s office at York. Yet Frederick’s degree was able to slip through the cracks and outsmart the system. This is the second degree scam to be uncovered in the past week. Former York graduate Peng Sun has been selling degrees for years. In 2007, York regional police uncovered a counterfeit ring that created phony degrees and other documents. One of the largest programs put in place to aid in the discovery of bogus documents is the Counterfeit Analysis Program (CAP), run by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“This program incorporates documents that are believed to be counterfeit and can be sent to be analyzed where they do comparison with authentic documents to prove whether they are authentic or not,” said Sgt. Marc LaPorte, a spokesperson for the Ontario division of the RCMP.  Laporte said the program will not be used in the case of Frederick. The RCMP will only step in if they are asked  to by the local authorities.