California Metropolitan University (CMU), a school with permission to operate out of California, is dealing with fraudsters selling phony degrees.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, October 31, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- California Metropolitan University (CMU), a school with full permission to operate out of California, has received information that there are fraudsters in the West African region selling counterfeit diplomas and honorary degrees.

The information came to light when CMU’s CEO, Mr. Sailesraj Murali, received a message from someone named, “Robert Abeku Ansa.” In the message, Mr. Ansa asked questions about “The African Goodwill award.” The information about fraud became clear when the sender sent the letter they received from an “Amb. Chris Odey.” In the letter, it included a phone number that has been directly linked to Mr. Odey.

Further proving that the letter was fraudulently created was the poor English grammar used and the fact it was signed off by “Dr. Roy Virgen Jr.” Dr. Virgen was the previous CEO and President of the university who stepped aside in July 2022. Mr. Virgen did represent CMU as a co-founder in a short video for an event in West Africa in Mid-September 2022. However, he no longer has management or representative responsibilities with the university. Any letter dated aft or award from CMU bearing his name is an obvious scam.

The university had to clarify to Mr. Ansa that CMU has stopped doing honorary awards and business in West Africa due to fraud issues. It was further suggested that Mr. Ansa enroll directly with the university for an online program rather than take an honorary award.

Mr. Sailesraj said, “CMU tries to ensure that we are not involved with the wrong people. Unfortunately, when we were trying to grow in the West African region earlier in 2022, it gave an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage. All CMU awards, whether academic or honorary, must include a QR code linked through blockchain via Certif-ID. When the QR code is scanned, it will show a direct digital copy with the recipient's name. If the names do not match, it is an obvious fraud. CMU only issued a handful of awards to recipients in West Africa ever. We had to stop this practice for reputation purposes.”

Specifically, Mr. Sailes elaborated on the honorary awards by stating, “CMU no longer offers any sort of honorary awards. If anyone receives a letter claiming to be getting an honorary award from CMU, it is an obvious fraud. All awards must be earned through academic or professional coursework and issued through Certif-ID before printing is allowed. Every award must bear the QR code.”

When Mr. Virgen, now Chairman and CEO of American Management University, was asked about the situation, he said, “I always want to believe people have the best intentions when I do business with them. Unfortunately, there has been a violation of trust with select people in West Africa. AMU and CMU will need to work together to seek legal counsel to figure out the best way to deal with these imposters. In addition, AMU will need to consider suspending our own honorary degrees and any existing partnerships in West Africa.”

CMU and AMU have admitted that there is a lot of work to be done. Each university plans on filing for US accreditation and French authorization in the coming months and is focused on doing what is best for each respective school.

CMU is a school based out of San Francisco, California with additional offices in Bangkok, Thailand and Paris, France that has permission to operate by the State of California through sponsorship by the International Alliance of Business Professionals. Questions about CMU’s programs or further evidence of fraud should be directed to: learn@cmu.ac. All potential students must be members of IABP.

AMU is a school based out of Southern California, with an additional office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that has permission to operate by the State of Califoria through sponsorship by the International Alliance of Business Professioanls. All potential students must be members of IABP. Questions about AMU’s programs and current partnerships or submitting evidence of fraud should be directed to admin@amu.education.

Gwenn Harris
California Metropolitan University
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