Graduates from a wedding hall in Grude: Diplomas for up to 10,000 euros

The case with diplomas from Fabus, University of Sremska Kamenica in Serbia, has not bothered anyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far. Although investigations were talked about as early as 2012, nothing has been done. Apparently, Fabus operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina without even being registered in its home country, Serbia. Namely, diplomas for 140 people were awarded in 2006, while the university in Sremska Kamenica was registered only in 2008. The huge amount of money that Fabus collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina was used to finance and purchase real estate for the then non-existent university, writes Patria.

Namely, according to Serbian media, the former Minister of Education of Serbia, Zoran Lončar, signed the registration of Fabus University just five days before the end of his term in 2008. In the meantime, hundreds of diplomas, essentially just pieces of paper without any substance or knowledge, bearing the letterhead of this educational institution, were awarded in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was confirmed by Gordana Cikojević, former Minister of Education in the Canton of Livno:

- Today, there are no traces that this faculty existed, and it was registered as a branch in Grude and Kupres. The faculty was closed in 2006, and the majority of diplomas were issued during 2002, 2003, and 2004 - Minister Cikojević said three years ago.

This revealed an even worse affair. If the official websites of Educons University and its department in Sremska Kamenica state that they were founded in 2008, where do these much older diplomas come from? Therefore, all these diplomas from 2002, 2003, and 2004 are an even bigger problem than that four-month "faculty" course in Grude. These are just printed papers. According to all available information, the owners of these papers hold numerous positions in cantons, entities, and the state.

Mario Spasić from the Serbian non-governmental organization "Transparency" once said that 40 percent of private universities and faculties in Serbia trade diplomas. He states that the price of fake diplomas in these institutions ranges from 3,000 to 10,000 euros, depending on the program and the speed of obtaining the diploma, and that at least 1,000 fake diplomas go from Serbia to Republika Srpska annually. However, it is also evident that diplomas have long been traded in the Federation as well.

FABUS has something called Undergraduate Studies – Management, then four-year studies, and master's studies. It is clear that something in this express university was designed for accelerated learning with an express completion.

The promotion of 140 "highly educated cadres" in Grude cost around one million and 700 thousand KM. The question is who paid for all this knowledge acquired in a wedding hall in Grude, as it is suspected that funds were taken from the budget. The tuition fee for one year at Fabus cost 1,390 euros. This is for basic costs of 5,600 euros, plus additional costs for taking exams, which cost 100 euros each. Still an expensive diploma.

Because, Fabus is a faculty where you pay 100 euros to take an exam, and with a professor whose lectures you did not attend. In case students did not attend lectures, that could also be bought. Like medieval indulgences, for the remission of sins.

It all sounds like a good joke. A very official joke.