U.S. University Admission Forgery: Indian Student Arrested for Submitting Fake Records to Return to India
Aryan Anand, a 19-year-old Indian student, was arrested and charged with falsifying records to gain admission to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania for the 2023-2024 academic year. He submitted fake documents, including a fabricated death certificate for his father, to secure both admission and financial aid. As part of a plea deal with American authorities, Anand will have to return to India.
Aryan Anand was arraigned on June 12 and charged with forgery, with bail set at $25,000. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one to three months in Northampton County Prison, which was effectively a time-served sentence. As part of his plea deal, Anand must return to India, and Lehigh University opted not to seek restitution of approximately $85,000. Anand was released into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He had created a fake email address impersonating a school principal and falsely claimed his father was deceased, though his father is alive and in India.
Aryan Anand’s forgery was discovered after he posted details of his fraudulent scheme on Reddit, under the username ‘u/transportationOK4728.’ His post, titled “I have built my life and career on lies,” led to an investigation when a Reddit monitor alerted Lehigh University’s Admissions Department on April 26. The investigation revealed that Anand had been following only Lehigh University groups on Reddit.
Lehigh police identified Aryan Anand as the author of a now-deleted Reddit post detailing his fraudulent scheme to gain university admission and financial aid. Anand admitted to creating a fake email address, falsifying his father’s death certificate, altering tax documents and school transcripts, and producing a fake senior school certificate. He was charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree forgery, tampering with records, theft by deception, and theft of services.
