A 19-year-old Indian student, Aryan Anand, will return to India under a plea deal with American authorities after being charged with falsifying records to gain admission to Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. Anand, who had submitted fake documents to secure his place for the 2023-2024 academic year, pleaded guilty to one count of forgery.
The charges against Anand include forgery, tampering with records or identification, theft by deception, and theft of services. His fraudulent activities came to light after he posted anonymously on Reddit, admitting to building his life and career on lies. This post prompted a police investigation that uncovered the extent of his forgery.
About the incident
According to a report in Lehigh University's student newspaper, 'The Brown and White,' the investigation revealed that Anand had faked his father's death and falsified admission and financial aid documents. He created a fake email address impersonating a school principal and altered tax documentation and academic transcripts to support his fraudulent claims.
While everything seemed to be going well for Anand, his fraudulent scheme was exposed after he outlined it in a Reddit post titled ‘I have built my life and career on lies'. The investigation into the case began when a Reddit monitor notified Lehigh’s Admissions Department of the post on April 26.
“The criminal complaint revealed the thread was authored by someone with the username ‘u/transportationOK4728,' and ‘the creator was following only one University group on Reddit, and that University was Lehigh University’,” the report said.
Further investigation by the Lehigh police identified Anand as the author of the post, which has since been deleted but in which he had outlined his scheme. Anand had used the "iLovePDF" website to alter documents and Adobe Photoshop to modify his academic records.
Complaint Accused Anand of Multiple Felonies
The complaint accused him of multiple felonies, including forgery, tampering with records, theft by deception, and theft of services. Moreover, on June 12, Anand was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jordan Knisley with bail set at USD 25,000. As part of his plea deal, he was sentenced to one to three months in Northampton County Prison, which amounted to a time-served sentence, according to defence attorney Molly Heidorn. Anand is now required to return to India, and Lehigh University chose not to seek restitution of approximately USD 85,000. He was released into the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
(With inputs from PTI)
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