Indian Student to return to India after being charged for forgery, falsifying University Admission documents

Aryan Anand, a 19-year-old Indian student, has reached an agreement with American authorities following a plea deal after being arrested for submitting falsified documents to gain admission to Lehigh University for the 2023-2024 academic year. 

As part of the agreement, Anand will return to India and will not have to pay restitution of approximately $85,000.

Anand deceived his way into obtaining a full scholarship to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He was charged with forgery after a police investigation revealed he had submitted fake admission and financial aid documents. Moreover, he also fabricated the death of his father to secure additional financial assistance, according to local media reports.

The investigation into Anand's admissions fraud was triggered by a post he made on Reddit, titled "I have built my life and career on lies," which detailed his deceptive schemes. 

After a Reddit monitor flagged the post on April 26, Lehigh’s Admissions Department initiated an inquiry that ultimately identified Anand as the author.

Indicted on June 12 by Magisterial District Judge Jordan Knisley, Anand was initially held on bail set at $25,000. He pleaded guilty to one count of forgery and received a sentence of one to three months in Northampton County Prison, which amounted to a time-served sentence. He has since been released and is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Court documents indicated that Anand's fraudulent activities included creating a fictitious email account posing as a school principal, submitting an altered death certificate, falsifying tax documentation, and submitting counterfeit academic transcripts. 

The degree of sophistication was highlighted by metadata analysis, which revealed the documents were altered using tools such as Adobe Photoshop and the "iLovePDF" website.

The Northampton County District Attorney, Stephen Baratta, confirmed that Anand is now required to return to India as part of his plea deal.