Professors, Rectors, and Directors Admitted to Crime: At Least 49 Diplomas Sold for Around 370,000 BAM

(Patria) - The first confessions have been made by arrested and accused professors, rectors, directors, and intermediaries in the "Cluster" operation who participated in the trade of forged diplomas, about which the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has gathered over 3,000 pieces of evidence, the portal CAPITAL reports.

According to information confirmed at the Court of BiH, the accused Vladimir Stojanović, Mirko Tufegdžija, Vaso Pajić, Vojislav Škrbić, as well as representatives of the higher education institution "Victoria International University" and the College "Union," both from Mostar, have pleaded guilty and signed an agreement with the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

"The main trial in the case of Zoran Kalinić and others began on November 15, 2024, and by court decision, the case was separated regarding the accused Stojanović, Pajić, Tufegdžija, and Škrbić, as well as the accused legal entities University 'Victoria International University' Mostar (legal successor of the University of Modern Sciences 'CKM') and College 'Union' Mostar. The separation occurred due to plea agreements. The court's decision on the received agreements will be made within a reasonable time," they confirmed to us at this court.

Recall, the "Cluster" operation began on February 21, 2023, when police officers started searches of several higher education institutions and arrests of suspects deeply involved in the trade of forged diplomas. The operation, which lasted almost a year and a half, resulted in an indictment against 21 individuals and legal entities.

They are accused of selling diplomas in medicine, law, occupational safety, forestry, economics, and numerous other qualifications through an established and proven scheme, providing fake students with exam questions with answers, seminar papers, and even theses.

Accused of selling at least 49 diplomas

The indictment also includes intermediaries and representatives mainly responsible for the "dirty part of the job," for collection and communication with "students" and "graduates," Vaso Pajić, Goran Lalović, Dušan Perić, Senad Sinanović, Ljubinko Dobraš, and Miodrag Tepić.

All of them are charged with selling at least 49 diplomas to individuals who did not study, at prices ranging from 3,500 BAM to 10,000 BAM, depending on the length of study (from two to nine months). So far, it has been established that they collected at least 370,000 marks.

In a conversation with a source familiar with this case, we learn that it went so far that "packages" of high school, university, master's, and doctoral diplomas were sold for at least 9,500 BAM.

Among the most interesting examples in the indictment, the assistance of Zoran Kalinić to Dragan Ilić to retroactively apply and be elected to the position of assistant professor in the narrower scientific field of management stood out.

Also, one graduate economist obtained a diploma for 6,500 marks without ever setting foot on a faculty.

Particularly interesting is the communication between Kalinić, Škrbić, and Perić during 2021, in the years of business flourishing, which shows that students came to gas stations and hotels for knowledge and titles, while intermediaries "struggled" to provide them with everything.