20081208/世界日报：加媒体揭华人伪造学历证件

世界日报江先声/「多伦多星报」揭发1宗涉案者为华人的学历证件伪造情事。据报导，只要花3000元左右，就可以代为伪造1张多伦多大学等名校的仿真度极高的毕业证书；另加1份成绩单，则只需约1000元。

在大多伦多地区活动的涉案者孙鹏（Peng Sun，译音）现年26岁，据他向伪装顾客的刺探者所称，过去4年来已伪造数以百计本地大专院校的学历证件，他在持学生签证于约克大学就读时已开始从事这种勾当，现在他已毕业，并取得移民身分。

据报导，孙鹏伪造的证件仿真度是顶级的，证件以厚厚的、有水印的纸张印制，还有大学的印鉴、校长等人的伪冒签名等。

DALE BRAZAO/TORONTO STAR
Peng Sun walks to his car after meeting a Star operative. Sun sells forged diplomas.

孙鹏表示，他有一些跟他一样来自中国的朋友，在这里待上几年，却没有念书，从他那里拿到伪造的名校毕业证书回到中国，找到他们所需的工作，这样的「顾客」大不乏人。

据报导，孙鹏主要是在YorkBBS.ca网站的告示板上，以「黄金中国海外留学公司」（Golden China Overseas Studying）名义招揽生意，经过电邮、电话联络后，在大多伦多地区一些场商停车场中进行交易。除学历证件外也仿制其他如汽车保单等证件。

孙鹏声称，为了保护他自己和他的顾客，他每次交货后一周内，便把相关文件和电脑上的资料一概销毁。

去年4月，约克地区警方破获1个由5名中国留学生组成的证件伪造团夥，以高仿真度仿制学历证书、护照、签证、驾照等，但由于警方入屋搜查时未有搜查令或没有合理理由，未能成功起诉。

INVESTIGATION: Phony degree scam exposed
TheStar.com | GTA |

Temptation to become an ‘instant grad’ fuels this man’s busy trade in finely forged diplomas

Dec 07, 2008 04:30 AM
Dale Brazao
Staff Reporter

For $3,000, Peng Sun can turn anyone into an instant graduate from the most prestigious universities in the country.

For another $1,000, he’ll provide authentic-looking transcripts for the dozens of classes you never attended.

All you need is a bundle of cash and the nerve to meet him in a parking lot somewhere in the GTA. In return you will get a forged university degree virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

We know this because for $4,000, Peng Sun made a York University MBA diploma for a Star operative posing as a Toronto bank employee who needed one quickly to land a high-paying job in China. In three days, Sun produced documents that would take years and hefty tuition fees for a real student to earn.

Education leaders say the widespread production of bogus degrees damages the academic system and police warn that forged documents create security risks.

Sun’s counterfeit ring, the brash 26-year-old York University grad claims, has forged hundreds of college and university degrees in the past four years. He started the business while a visa student at York.

“Three (degrees) per week, a good week, I get four,” Sun told the Star’s undercover operative of the high demand for his bogus degrees.

His work is top-notch. His prices are higher than those charged by diploma mills advertising on the Internet because his fakes are of superior quality, for real universities, printed on thick, watermarked paper, and stamped with university seals.

For the $4,000 Sun also provided two copies of grade transcripts in sealed York University envelopes ready to hand to prospective employers.

“Once you crack the watermark you can forge anything,” Sun boasted to one of two operatives the Star used during a two-month investigation. “You can print money.”

University of Toronto and York University degrees are the most sought after by his clients, mainly students who don’t want to study, or immigrants returning to China who need a diploma to land a well-paying job. Sun said the price for a bachelor’s degree, MBA or PhD is the same. For him, it’s the same amount of work, paper and ink.

“I have friends from China who spend three years here, didn’t want to go to school, but got York and U of T degree (from him) then got a job,” Sun boasted. “There are many of them. It’s funny.”

“My quality is the best. You can’t even distinguish. The paper, its weight, quality, pattern, colour, fonts, layout, logo design, stamp, seal are the same as the real thing.”

“You will get your return,” Sun said to the operative’s comment that $4,000 was a lot of money. “If you pay 30 years of tuition fees, you still have to study for 30 years.”

Sun advertises his fake degrees on an Internet bulletin board. He did not ask to see any identification before undertaking to make an MBA degree for one of our operatives, who went by the name Calvin Wai Tak Lee. After email and telephone exchanges, Calvin Lee met Sun in the Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot at Yonge St. and Finch Ave. two weeks ago. Our operative gave him a date of birth, the requested graduating year (2006), plus a $400 cash down payment.

Three days later, Calvin Lee had his Master of Business Administration from York’s prestigious Schulich School of Business, bearing the embossed slogan “with all the honours, rights and privileges which appertain to this degree.” The degree was delivered at a meeting that began in Sun’s white Toyota Yaris in the same parking lot.

Bearing a graduation date of June 2006, the degree carries the university’s crimson seal and the forged signatures of then-Chancellor Peter Cory and President Lorna Marsden. Cory is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and Marsden is a former Canadian senator.

For the $4,000 Sun also provided transcripts detailing two years of alleged study in marketing courses at Schulich, awarding Calvin Lee an A in Organizational Behaviour, but only a C+ in Strategy Field Study.

Shown the bogus degree and transcripts, York University Registrar Joanne Duklas was both impressed by the quality of the forgeries and outraged that anyone, especially a former student, would undertake such “nefarious” work.

“As a group, registrars of schools are appalled by this behaviour and find it unacceptable,” said Duklas, whose forged signature is on the transcripts.

So confident was Sun about the quality of his work that before taking his payment, he drove Calvin to the York University bookstore at the Keele St. campus to compare his newly minted forgery to framed samples on display there.

Back in the car, Sun demanded the remaining $3,600 before turning over the degree, stashing the cash in an empty Godiva chocolate box and shoving it under his car seat.

As he drove the Star’s operative back to the Shoppers’ lot, Sun sought to involve our operative in another of his scams, asking Calvin (who was posing as a banker) if he could put him in contact with someone at the bank who deals with mortgages and loans.

“Some people want to return to China, sell their passports, SIN cards, and we can use their names to go to the bank and get loans,” Sun explained. “Once you get the money in hand …”

When they reached Shoppers, two Star reporters confronted Sun as he was about to drive off. Startled, Sun said little, then grudgingly handed over the box of money when asked by the Star.

“I’m just doing research,” Sun said several times, when told that he had been the subject of the newspaper’s probe into fake university degrees.

“I reserve the question,” Sun said several times, when asked to explain his actions.

“Can I go now?” he asked, then sped off in the Yaris in the direction of his luxury condo two blocks away on Greenview Ave. Property records show that he paid $410,000 for the unit and it is mortgage free. At a previous meeting Sun had arrived in a $60,000 BMW 525xi, bearing the vanity plate A 001. Subsequent phone calls to Sun’s cellphone have gone unanswered.

Sun’s own York University degree is real. He graduated from the Atkinson School of Administrative Studies in 2007 with a Bachelor of Human Resources Management and upgraded it to an honours degree this year, the university confirmed. But in discussions with our operatives, Sun played down his academic achievements, saying his degree has been of limited use to him. In China, as it is in Canada, it’s who you know and your work experience that counts, he said.

“I’ve forgotten everything (I learned) in school. All theoretical. Nothing useful.”

Sun came to Canada as a visa student years ago and took courses at Humber College before enrolling at York. Known to friends, clients and in Internet chat rooms as “Randy,” he has advertised on the Internet for years, primarily on YorkBBS.ca, a bulletin board popular with Chinese visa students. He calls his company Golden China Overseas Studying.

That’s where a Mandarin-speaking Star operative saw his ads, not only for diplomas, but automobile insurance, student cards and other types of identification.

Contacted by email, Sun boasted openly of his ability to produce degrees from most Canadian universities, with the exception of the University of Western Ontario in London. A University of Toronto degree would have to carry a graduation date prior to June of this year. U of T has started using holographs on its diplomas, which are harder to copy, but Sun said recently he is now in a position to fabricate the new U of T degrees, for $6,000.

“We have the watermark paper, we have the seals,” Sun said. “My quality is very, very, good. As close as you can get to the real thing.”

Besides the degrees, he offered for sale numerous other counterfeit documents, which could push the price to more than $10,000. These include forged letters from the Chinese Consulate in Toronto and the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing attesting the client as a bona fide student in Canada.

“I can get all these documents pretty fast,” Sun said in an email prior to the first of three face-to-face meetings with the Star’s operatives. “If it is not urgent, give me a week. The pivotal question is, when you will need it?”

He does not provide samples of his work, he said, because he can’t take a chance of being caught with any evidence or have his work fall into the hands of his competitors. “I used to show samples to all customers. One evening I was in a parking lot at Finch and Leslie. I was showing samples. Not even five minutes, police came to us. I was quick. I put them away. Police said someone called police and reported you selling fake documents. I said, no, I’m here chilling out with friends.

“Since then I don’t carry any samples with me.”

Chinese employers rarely check the authenticity of foreign degrees, he told one of our operatives. Even if they do, universities don’t normally give out information over the phone, preferring a faxed request, he said. In that case, the applicant should provide the employer with a fax number in Toronto. Confirmation of the degree will then be faxed to China on the university’s letterhead. For his protection, and that of his clients, Sun claims he purges all client information from his laptop, and shreds all documents a week after the transaction is sealed and delivered.

“The last person you want to see, after you buy a degree from me, is me,” Sun told one of our operatives.

The bogus-degree market is a billion-dollar industry, authorities say, with hundreds of Internet sites pumping out an estimated 200,000 fake diplomas a year around the globe. Fake degrees pose a security risk in the hands of potential terrorists, who might use them to gain entry into North America or advance into sensitive jobs. Two of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks entered the United States on student visas.

“The dangers posed by a diploma mill are real,” says University of Illinois Professor George Gollin, who has studied the problem for years. “It is bad enough that persons using fake degrees obtain undeserved status or swindle unwitting victims, but there is a real danger when phony physicians treat the sick, untrained engineers design bridges or teachers with purchased credentials instruct our children.”

In April 2007, York Regional Police arrested five Chinese visa students alleged to be operating a “full-service” forgery mill in the basement of a house in Markham.

The gang had produced “hundreds, if not thousands” of top-quality degrees, passports, visas, driver’s licences and marriage certificates and sold them on the Internet. Among the hundreds of documents seized by police were degrees from U of T, York, Western, Carleton, Acadia, Brock, Seneca College and George Brown, as well as stamps used to produce the university seals and blank watermarked transcripts.

“This was quite the brazen operation,” York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge said at a news conference to announce the biggest takedown of a forgery den in Ontario’s history.

“They were charging $18,000 for immigration papers and enough other documents that you could create an entire false identity.”

The sophistication of the degree-making operation was such that diplomas matched the correct university president’s signature to the year of the graduation.

“I’ve never seen quality like this,” Det. Mathew Ma, an expert on high-tech crime, told reporters. “I can’t tell the difference between the false and the originals.”

But the case blew up in court last month after a judge ruled police entered the house initially without a warrant or reasonable grounds. Charges were withdrawn against three of the accused, and Justice Richard Blouin acquitted the other two, a husband and wife.

The quality and volume of fake documents presented serious national security concerns, Blouin said in his ruling.

The Star has no evidence linking Peng Sun to that forgery operation.

Bogus diplomas diminish the value of the work legitimate students put into obtaining real degrees, said George Granger, executive director of Ontario Universities Application Centre, which acts as a clearing house for student seeking admission to Ontario’s 21 universities.

“No one really knows how extensive this is, but we do know it is a problem and the universities are taking steps to deal with it,” Granger said. Some of those measures include changing the look of their degrees every so often.

Watermarked paper, which is intended to foil forgery attempts, is kept under lock and key. Transcripts are printed on special paper that can’t be photocopied without the word “copy” showing through. Each sheet is numbered and spoiled transcripts are destroyed.

“We treat our degrees like currency,” said Laurie Stephens, director of media relations for U of T. New degrees are imprinted with a hologram to deter would-be forgers.

Employers and other interested parties can now request verification of any U of T degree online, if they know the student’s name, social insurance number or student number. They will get an answer in five days. York University is considering a similar move.

U of T graduates about 12,000 students a year. Both U of T and York get several hundred calls each week from prospective employers and other universities, many of them overseas. Anyone with a concern about the legitimacy of a degree should contact the Registrar’s Office at either school.

Canada has no law specific to degree forgery, though in 20 American states it is a crime to use fake degrees and the U.S. Congress is studying legislation to deal with diploma mills.

In Canada, allegations of degree forgery come under the forgery section of the Criminal Code. “Possessing a false document could be defended on the basis that it is a novelty item,” said criminal lawyer Scott Cowan, who defended one of the accused in the Markham bust. “But passing off a fake degree as an original in a job application would amount to the offence of uttering a forged document. It could be as serious as using a counterfeit bill.”

“Make sure you buy a frame to frame your diploma,” Peng Sun told Calvin Lee as he left his car with the bogus degree in his briefcase. “You can even get it from Wal-Mart. If you have a problem, call me. Good luck.”

PRICIEST FAKE: ‘DIPLOMA’ FROM U OF T

Here is the price list Peng Sun quoted in emails and brought with him to meetings with a Star undercover operative:

$3,000 Most university degrees (York, University of Toronto, etc.)

$6,000 University of Toronto-post 2006 (with anti-counterfeit hologram)

$1,000 Two copies of sealed transcripts, on watermarked paper

$1,000 Letter from the Chinese Ministry of Education

$500 Admission letter from university

$600 Proof of tuition payments

$1,750 Student photo ID card

$900 Graduation letter from Canadian university

$300 Reference letter

$800 Enrolment notice

Sun also told the Star operative he offers “different combos, with gift packages.”

http://www.thestar.com/article/549772

Forged degree investigation: Transcript

Dec 07, 2008 04:04 PM
The Star went undercover to purchase a forged university degree. Here is a partial transcript of two conversations between Peng Sun (who made the degree) and Calvin Lee, the Star operative. Lee was a pseudonym used by the Star operative for the sting. The meetings were conducted in Mandarin, and translated into English.

Meeting one:

3 pm. Friday, Nov. 21. Location: Shoppers Drug Mart parking lot at Yonge St. and Finch Ave.

Peng Sun and Calvin Lee met outside Shoppers and then Sun took Lee back to his white Toyota Yaris. The conversation, while parked in the lot, was in Mandarin. Calvin Lee had told Peng Sun in emails that he was responding to Sun’s Internet advertisement for a degree.

Peng Sun: What questions do you have?

Calvin Lee: I want an MBA, by mid Dec., because I have to return to Hong Kong.

Peng Sun: Which school?

Calvin Lee: It doesn’t matter. I already have a degree from Ryerson, but I need an MBA.

Peng Sun: That’s okay for mid December.

Calvin Lee: My flight is December 14. Do they examine it (the document)?

Peng Sun: Nobody would examine it, except if you are applying for government jobs,civil servants, generally corporate companies in China don’t inspect them.They don’t care.

Calvin Lee: My job prospect is in a bank.

Peng Sun: No problem. In China, they don’t inspect it. My customers even refer friends to me, somewith York University, we do quite a good job.

Calvin Lee: I need my MBA in marketing.

Peng Sun: No problem. You first pick a school, then within a school they have different professions. For MBA, it’s master of biz administration. They have to have the subjects you pick. What did you study?

Calvin Lee: My experience is in banking.

Peng Sun: It’s either York or University of Toronto.

Calvin Lee: Which one is better?

Peng Sun: Don’t worry. I’m the cheapest. My quality is the best. If you are going to do it, you have to replicate it to the best quality. Whether it’s real or fake, you put them together, you can’t even distinguish, the paper, its weight, quality, pattern, colour, fonts, layout, logo design, stamp, seal, the same as the real thing.

Calvin Lee: Do I need transcripts?

Peng Sun: Depends if you need them. Some want it because this is fake, not real. If you need it in the future, (the employer) needs to request it, you have to pay for it and mail to you. If you really need the transcript then, we can still do it.

Calvin Lee: How about the price?

Peng Sun: (showing Calvin a price list)

Calvin Lee: If I order, is the diploma enough?

Peng Sun: It’s up to you. Most fresh graduates from a program will ask for transcripts. Most order a diploma and two transcripts. You need two transcripts. Who needs it, you give it to them. You can’t use it twice once it’s unsealed.

Calvin Lee: do they examine?

Peng Sun: Only government can inspect you. Banks do not have authority to do it. Also, if you call York, University of Toronto, they don’t give out students info to others. Also, there’s 12 hours difference between China and here, the office here opens between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If people in China want to inspect you in the morning, it’s dark here. It’s best to do it in North America. But if your degree is from Japan or Korea, it’s much more difficult to pass off.

Calvin Lee: do you have any sample?

Peng Sun: Which school? Because it also depends on when you want to graduate?

Calvin Lee: I got my bachelor in 2000, so it has to be after 2000.

Peng Sun: That’s okay, a master degree takes one to two years. One problem is York always has one version, but University of Toronto changed (to) new version in June, 2008. The new version, all diplomas changed, so if you want to do the version before June, 2008, you need to use the old version. Otherwise, you need to do a new version. Because there’s no new diploma in the market, the price will double. Transcripts haven’t changed. Just the diplomas. If you want University of Toronto diploma before June or York’s, the low-quality ones cost $1,500, the better quality ones will cost you $3,000.

Calvin Lee: Do I need the transcripts?

Peng Sun: Every customer asks for different things. Of course, I’d love to have you order the transcripts as well because then I’d make more money. But it’s all up to you.

Calvin Lee: I’m just afraid if they ask to see my transcripts? Can I just order a diploma, then if they ask for transcripts, I’d place another order?

Peng Sun: That’s okay. But I’ve been doing this since 2004. Why? Because we do it carefully, safely. All customer info. You give me your info, I finish (using it), I shred it. If one day, if I’m in trouble, police got into my computer, do you think it’s better to find one person’s info or 1,000 people’s info? So, I don’t keep your info, so if you place the orders together, I don’t keep the info. And the time I spend on it would be different, and I charge differently.

Calvin Lee: All schools cost the same?

Peng Sun: They are all the same, it’s only the words (on the diplomas) are different.

Calvin Lee: Can you make it before Dec. 14?

Peng Sun: I don’t do it here, I do it somewhere else. The only trouble is the layout. Otherwise, you need one evening to get it done. Two days max. I can do it for it anytime. When do you want it?

Calvin Lee: Before I take my flight on Dec. 14.

Peng Sun: Which school?

Calvin Lee: I don’t know, because I never attended either U of T or York, if they ask me questions, I don’t know the campus, the school.

Peng Sun: It’s simple. Honestly, I graduated from York, if you ask me about the buildings, I can’t even tell you. You don’t have to worry. You’re just paranoid. The only difference between University of Toronto or York, if you can afford it, order the new diploma from UT, because no one else has it.

Calvin Lee: How much would University of Toronto’s new version costs?

Peng Sun: How long have you worked here?

Calvin Lee: About 8 years. I graduated in 2000.

Peng Sun: Here, if you go for master, it’s better to have work experience. If you want the new one from University of Toronto, you can graduate in June. At York and University of Toronto, two graduation ceremonies each year, one in June, at York the other one in October. At University of Toronto, it could be October or November, depending on your major. If you just graduate, it’s a bit weird with timing.

Calvin Lee: So if it’s two transcripts and a diploma for the new UT version, how much would it cost?

Peng Sun: the old version, the diploma and two transcripts cost $4,000. If it’s new, it’s $6,000.

Calvin Lee: That’s a big difference.

Peng Sun: That’s okay, for some customers, they don’t have a choice, they can only be graduating after June. Some young people tell their parents they graduate at certain times, but…you graduated already in 2000, you can have eight years (to get the MBA). But I suggest you to use York because it’s more low-profile. Not like, I am University of Toronto, I am University of Toronto. But how many campuses does University of Toronto have? It has three campuses, one in Toronto, one in Missy, one in Scarborough. If they ask you questions, you don’t know nothing. At York, everyone goes to Keele campus. There are always new buildings up every year. Students don’t know where the classes are. York’s MBA is good.

Calvin Lee: They have marketing?

Peng Sun: If you need, I can email York MBA information to you, and you’ll see. When do you want to place your order?

Calvin Lee: No one will inspect? It’s a lot of money, I need to see samples. Do you have it off hand? They do look real.

Peng Sun: When it’s done, I will take you to York to see the real ones and you can compare.

Calvin Lee: We’d still have enough time to do it?

Peng Sun: I will take you to see the real ones. York…it’s been really tight. Last March, they caught two people, who have just been released. Last November, I was at Finch and Leslie, I used to show samples to all customers. One evening, in a parking lot, I was showing samples, not even five minutes, police came to us. I was quick, I put them away. Police said someone called police and reported you selling fake documents. I said, No, I’m here chilling out with friends. Since then, I never carry any samples with me. When it’s done, I will take you to York to see the real ones.

Calvin Lee: So if it’s no good, I can get my deposit back?

Peng Sun: Yes. You don’t worry. I have a lot of returned customers and referrals.

Calvin Lee: How much deposit do you need?

Peng Sun: You first put down (gives Calvin a post it note) your first name, last name, date of birth, and admission year.

Calvin Lee: 2006 is okay?

Peng Sun: For York, the most popular is its MBA. You need 1.5 year to graduate. Most finish in two.

Calvin Lee: Would they check with my bank?

Peng Sun: Make sure you get some papers with its letter heads, and give out your own fax number…(laughter) it’s that simple. When do you want to have graduated?

Calvin Lee: I graduated in 2000, with four years of work experience, then go to York, and graduated in 2006?

Peng Sun: No problem. Make sure you put the name same as your passport. Do you want to graduate in January or June? Most people are admitted in September.

Calvin Lee: So it’s $4,000?

Peng Sun: I need deposit. I do it for you. When it’s done, I will show it to you. I will give you the comfort. You also need to give me comfort. I have to work on it.

Calvin Lee: How much deposit?

Peng Sun: $500.

Calvin Lee: I only have $400? Is it okay?

(At this point, Calvin Lee hands $400 to Peng Sun, who counts the money.)

Calvin Lee: So I still owe you $3,600. You’ll remember my deposit, right?

Peng Sun: I will email you the Internet link to York’s MBA program, you’ll go through it, confirm and I’ll go ahead.

Calvin Lee: So I just have to wait for your email, right?

Peng Sun: I will send you an email by 6, you must respond to me by email. Today’s Thursday. Friday or Saturday evening, I should be able to complete it. But we can’t go to York Saturday or Sunday. We can do it Monday. The bookstore opens until 8 p.m.

Calvin Lee: Can we do it in the evening, so I don’t have to take time off work?

Peng Sun: Let’s decide later. You make up your mind first what professional designation you want.

Calvin Lee: Okay. Bye.

(At this point, Calvin Lee gets out of Peng Sun’s Yaris and heads for the subway. Peng Sun drives away quickly.)

Second Meeting

Peng Sun contacted Calvin Lee over the weekend to suggest a Monday meeting. Monday, they spoke by telephone and arranged an afternoon meeting for Monday, Nov. 24. Peng Sun suggested they meet at Shoppers again. The Star learned that Peng Sun had already met another client an hour earlier. At 2:30 pm, Peng Sun met Calvin Lee on the street and asked Calvin to get in his Yaris. As soon as they were in the car, Peng Sun drove off with Calvin Lee. They drove to York University, where Peng Sun took Calvin Lee to the bookstore and showed him what a real degree (framed, and on the wall) looked like. They walked back to the Yaris, Peng Sun opened his trunk and handed Calvin Lee a plastic bag with the degree and two sealed transcripts. They get in the Yaris and head back towards Shoppers.

Calvin Lee: (opening the plastic bag) Here’s the degree. Red, red, red (checking the colours on the degree and the seal on the diploma). You sure the names (of the chancellor and one other university official at the bottom of the diploma) are correct?

(At this point, Calvin Lee hands a white envelope containing $3,600 in cash, mostly twenties, to Peng Sun).

Peng Sun: I’m sure there’s no problem. All twenties?

Calvin Lee: You can count it.

Peng Sun: (He starts counting the bills, then stops after one bundle). Okay, I believe in you. (He puts the cash in a gold coloured Godiva chocolate box.

Calvin Lee: Can you drop me off at a subway station?

Peng Sun: Of course.

Calvin Lee: Want a cigarette…Matinee?

Peng Sun: Long time since I had a Matinee menthol. I love this hummer…(pointing at a Hummer they have pulled alongside)

Calvin Lee: It’s a gas guzzler. But I guess it’s okay, the $4,000 is enough for you to pay for a lot of gas.

Peng Sun: I’d love to travel to Hong Kong.

Calvin Lee: Make sure you don’t come to visit me.

Peng Sun: (Laughs). There are so many people in Hong Kong. I have friends in Hong Kong. Many came here before 1997 as 12, 13 year olds.

Calvin Lee: Schools here are easy. In Hong Kong, we’re a couple years ahead. In China, schools are very different, right?

Peng Sun: There’s elementary high school for three years. The other is senior high school, also for three years. It takes a total of six years.

Calvin Lee: materials there are more difficult than here, right?

Peng Sun: Canadians are quite poor at math.

Calvin Lee: You studied high school here?

Peng Sun: I finished high school there, and I continued high school here. I went to Humber College then York. I came as visa student. But now I have the passport.

Calvin Lee: A lot of people have returned to China, with so much opportunity.

Peng Sun: But there’s a lot of problem there for ordinary people. If you go to Hong Kong, some big cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, there are a lot of people holding foreign passports. Lot of competition. There are too many people in China.

Calvin Lee: Thought about returning?

Peng Sun: What can I do?

Calvin Lee: Your own degree from York is real, right?

Peng Sun: It’s real, but they are all the same. I’ve forgotten everything in school. All theoretical. Nothing useful. In China, it’s all about connections. It’s same in Canada.

Calvin Lee: Do you do PhDs?

Peng Sun: I can do anything. It’s simple whether it’s high school, or a master degree, it’s just a piece of paper, you put in whatever you want. To me it’s the same. There’s no difference. I have friends from China, who spent three years here, didn’t want to school, but got York and UT degree, then get a job. There are many of them, it’s funny.

Peng Sun: Do you know anyone in mortgage or loan at work?

Calvin Lee: Oh, I won’t help you on that.

Peng Sun: I understand. I have friends into this. Some people want to return to China, sell their passports, SIN cards, we can use their names to go to the bank to get loans. Once you get the money in hand. You mentioned your friend in Ottawa. Which school does he want?

Calvin Lee: Carleton. But he’d like to see my sample first. He’s still deciding. It’s a lot of money. $4,000 is not a small amount.

Peng Sun: You will get your return. If you pay 30 years of tuition fees, you still have to study for 30 years. It’s all about an individual’s work experience, quality and capability.

Calvin Lee: For my friend, he’d have to show you a real diploma from Carleton to show you first, right?

Peng Sun: Yes, but you can start somewhere, and transfer to a university in Toronto, that’s okay.

Calvin Lee: How long you’ve done this?

Peng Sun: Four years, since I was in school?

Calvin Lee: Done it many times?

Peng Sun: Some people are afraid. I have many people each year.

Calvin Lee: One a day?

Peng Sun: No. Three per week, a good week, I get four. Slow week, I get one or two. October, December or June are the busiest time. Otherwise, there are very few. It’s all seasonal.

Peng Sun: Make sure you buy a frame to frame your diploma. You can even get it from Wal-Mart. If you have problem, call me. Good luck.

At this point, Peng Sun pulled into the parking lot at Shoppers. Calvin Lee got out of the car and headed for the subway. Two Star reporters, Kevin Donovan and David Bruser, pulled their cars in and confronted Peng Sun as he was about to drive off. Peng Sun was asked by the reporters to answer questions about his involvement in making fake degrees. Peng Sun repeatedly said “I am just doing research” and “I reserve the right”, saying he did not want to answer questions. The reporters asked Sun to return the Star’s money. After a brief hesitation, Sun reached into his car and pulled out the Godiva chocolate box with the $3,600, and handed it over. The $400 deposit was not recovered. The degree and the transcript obtained by Calvin Lee were authentic looking and York University officials were impressed by the quality and said they were outraged that anyone would undertake such “nefarious” work.

http://www.thestar.com/Article/549274