TEMPO.CO, Medan - It has been revealed that the University of Sumatra in Medan, North Sumatra, has been operating sans a permit from the Research and Technology and Higher Education Ministry.
The campus, founded by “rector” Marsaid Yushar, 63, has issued thousands of diplomas for a fee ranging from Rp10-40 million.
“They’ve been selling diplomas without actually organizing teaching-learning activities. The University of Sumatra is clearly illegal,” the coordinator of the Coordination of Higher Learning Institutes (Kopertis) Region I, Dian Armanto, told Tempo on Thursday, May 28, 2015.
Dian Said the Kopertis had long suspected the illicit activities of the "university".
“The University of Sumatra began its operation in Pekanbaru in 2003 before reaching Medan,” Dian said.
The Medan Police apprehended Marsaid Yushar on Wednesday on suspicion of selling fake diplomas. During the arrest, the police seized evidence in the form of documents, college brochures, blanks of diplomas for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, bogus academic transcripts, and Rp15 million that allegedly came from a fake diploma transaction.
The University of Sumatra is located on Jl. Satria Ujung at Mekar Sari housing complex Block B No. 1 D, Deli Tua, which is none other than Marsaid’s house.
Marsaid confessed to the police the University of Sumatra had issued more than 1,200 fake diplomas since 2003. The police charged him with Article 67 verse (1) and Article 71 of the Law No. 20 Year 2003 on the National Education System with a penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
SAHAT SIMATUPANG
