The University of Hong Kong campus in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong. SINGAPORE: Hong Kong police have made two arrests as they investigate a widening admissions scandal at one of the city’s top universities that has already implicated around 30 postgraduate students, and could potentially involve as many as 100.
The two people arrested are mainland Chinese women, aged 24 and 34, according to Hong Kong police as reported by the South China Morning Post. They held two-way permits, a travel document issued by mainland authorities for visiting Hong Kong, and were arrested when crossing the border. According to the China Daily report, Prof Cai said HKU Business School was alerted to online agencies claiming they could guarantee admission to the “highly selective” programme for up to 500,000 yuan . HKU Business School is ranked 35th globally in the QS Global MBA Rankings 2024.
Only fake documents ostensibly awarded by overseas universities have been discovered so far, said Prof Cai. The admission papers of graduates from Hong Kong and Chinese mainland universities have all been deemed authentic. Instead, the agency forged transcripts and a graduation certificate from a top US university and sent them to HKU from the US, said the school.