A 19-year-old Indian student, Aryan Anand, faces a significant legal and personal setback after being charged with falsifying documents to gain admission to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. The student, who had been studying at the private research university for the 2023-2024 academic year, will return to India under a plea deal with American authorities.
Anand’s fraudulent activities came to light through a Reddit post where he confessed to building his academic life on falsehoods. The post, which detailed his scheme to obtain admission and financial aid through deceit, triggered an investigation by Lehigh University. The student had manipulated several documents, including creating a fake email address to impersonate a school principal and fabricating a death certificate for his father to secure additional financial aid.
According to a report by Lehigh University’s student newspaper, The Brown and White, Anand had submitted falsified admission and financial aid documents. This included a fake death certificate and altered academic records. The investigation revealed that Anand had used tools like Adobe Photoshop and online PDF editors to alter documents.
The fraudulent activities were detected after Anand’s Reddit post was flagged by a monitor, which led to an inquiry by the university. The criminal complaint filed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania described how Anand had used a fake email address (principal@schoolname.com) to facilitate his application, and created false academic certificates and tax documents.
Anand was initially arraigned on June 12 by Magisterial District Judge Jordan Knisley, with a bail set at USD 25,000. He faced multiple charges, including forgery, tampering with records, theft by deception, and theft of services. Anand pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, leading to a plea deal which required him to serve one to three months in Northampton County Prison. The sentence, described as “time-served,” was part of the agreement.
As part of the plea deal, Anand is required to return to India. Lehigh University decided not to seek restitution for the approximately USD 85,000 involved in the case. Following his release, Anand was handed over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The case has drawn significant attention and criticism. Shweta N V, the wife of Parashuram, a Dalit sub-inspector who recently died by suicide in India, has demanded justice, accusing local authorities of supporting the wrongdoer. Meanwhile, political figures in Karnataka have used the incident to criticize the state government and its handling of similar cases.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara has called for a thorough investigation, though he has ruled out suicide in the case of Parashuram. The controversy surrounding this case, coupled with Anand’s fraudulent actions, has sparked discussions on ethics and accountability in both academic and legal spheres.
Aryan Anand’s case underscores the severe consequences of academic dishonesty and the lengths to which some individuals might go to secure educational opportunities. As Anand returns to India, the case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of integrity in academic admissions and the legal repercussions of fraudulent activities.