A single Reddit post exposed a student at an elite college as a fraud who lied his way into the school – and had major legal consequences.
Aryan Anand, 19, a former student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was exposed as a total fraud after a Reddit post revealed his web of lies.
Earlier this month, Anand pleaded guilty to forgery in Northampton County following revelations that his entire application to the university was fabricated.
The international student was caught after investigators found a post written by an anonymous user they believed to be Anand on the Reddit forum titled, ‘I have built my life and career on lies.’
The post recounted how he created fraudulent admission application and financial aid paperwork to get into Lehigh, which has an acceptance rate of 37 percent and tuition of nearly $60,000 per year.
A single Reddit post exposed a student at an elite college as a fraud who lied his way into the school – and may have cost him up to 20 years in prison
Aryan Anand, 19, a former student at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , was exposed as a total fraud after a Reddit post revealed his web of lies
The school was notified by a Reddit moderator and an investigation by university police took place.
The post reportedly did not mention the name of the school but the moderator allegedly made the right guess after seeing that Anand followed Lehigh on the website.
‘The defendant only had one other university that he followed, which was Lehigh University. So, the moderator actually reached out to Lehigh to give them a heads up,’ Northampton County Assistant D.A. Michael Weinert told ABC 6.
Investigators found that Anand had in fact impersonated a school principal and created falsified documents, including phony school transcripts, tax statements and a death certificate for his father, who is in fact alive and well, living in India.
‘It was difficult to really verify these things. I think that was great work by Lehigh and their police force. They were able to really dig deep and find all this really was false,’ Weinert added.
Anand was arrested in April and charged with multiple offenses including forgery, tampering with records, theft by deception, and theft of services.
The post recounted how he created a fake admission application and financial aid paperwork to get into Lehigh, which has an acceptance rate of 37 percent and tuition of nearly $60K/year
On June 12, he pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, classified as a second-degree felony.
Anand initially faced 10 to 20 years in prison, however, at the request of the university his penalty was reduced to expulsion from the school and deportation to India.
As part of the agreement for his return to India, the university waived the request for restitution, estimated at approximately $85,000.
Anand was subsequently handed over to the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lehigh University responded in a statement, saying it ‘appreciates the report to its ethics hotline and the diligent investigation by the Lehigh University Police Department that led to Aryan Anand’s arrest.’
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