Fake catering diplomas going around

TWO Caprivi residents who worked for a private catering school allegedly sold fake diplomas to several people who are now applying for jobs with worthless qualifications.

Until their arrest in April, Benedict Kachiolwa and Biola Bussel had run the Katima Mulilo branch of the Cleaners Training Centre of Namibia. The two allegedly started running their own school last year, charging higher fees than the registered institution and designing fraudulent certificates for those who completed their four-month course.The owner and managing director of Cleaners Training Centre of Namibia, Sebedius Muheva, told The Namibian that the two former employees had charged students a N$260 registration fee, as opposed to the school’s set fee of N$120.The four-month course offered by the school in food preparation, food service, hygiene, ethics and basic English cost students in other parts of the country N$150 a month, but students in the Caprivi were allegedly required to pay N$300 a month.The two were caught in April, after Muheva made an unscheduled visit to the Caprivi Region just before the school’s graduation ceremony.”It later emerged that, while they only sent me 61 names, they actually had 310 students registered,” Muheva said.In addition, the duo had apparently also opened up another branch in Katima Mulilo and had even employed teachers, Muheva charged.The fraudulent school issued certificates in the name of an unknown company called Catering Institution of Namibia, Muheva said.Some of the recipients of these diplomas have already been informed that they had been duped, he said.Others are not known because their records were destroyed when the school started investigating the case.Muheva requests others who have fallen victim to the alleged fraudsters to contact him and to make statements to the Police.”People need to go to the Police so we can see how much money these guys have been stealing.We’re trying to get them to repay the money they took, so if that happens people can get their money back,” Muheva said.The certificates issued by ‘Catering Institution of Namibia’ are invalid, he said.The authentic certificates are issued in the name of the Cleaning Training Centre, Muheva says, and should carry his signature.”The Cleaning Training Centre wants people to understand.It was not us who gave you this.We are trying to claim back your money.This has really dirtied the name of the company.We want justice done,” Muheva said.In a letter sent to traditional leaders in the Caprivi Region, Muheva said he suspected that the alleged fraud had been going on since September last year.Senior Police officers at the Katima Mulilo Police station have confirmed that they are investigating the matter.The suspects were arrested on April 18, and have since their first court appearance been released on N$500 bail each.The two allegedly started running their own school last year, charging higher fees than the registered institution and designing fraudulent certificates for those who completed their four-month course.The owner and managing director of Cleaners Training Centre of Namibia, Sebedius Muheva, told The Namibian that the two former employees had charged students a N$260 registration fee, as opposed to the school’s set fee of N$120. The four-month course offered by the school in food preparation, food service, hygiene, ethics and basic English cost students in other parts of the country N$150 a month, but students in the Caprivi were allegedly required to pay N$300 a month.The two were caught in April, after Muheva made an unscheduled visit to the Caprivi Region just before the school’s graduation ceremony.”It later emerged that, while they only sent me 61 names, they actually had 310 students registered,” Muheva said.In addition, the duo had apparently also opened up another branch in Katima Mulilo and had even employed teachers, Muheva charged.The fraudulent school issued certificates in the name of an unknown company called Catering Institution of Namibia, Muheva said.Some of the recipients of these diplomas have already been informed that they had been duped, he said.Others are not known because their records were destroyed when the school started investigating the case.Muheva requests others who have fallen victim to the alleged fraudsters to contact him and to make statements to the Police.”People need to go to the Police so we can see how much money these guys have been stealing.We’re trying to get them to repay the money they took, so if that happens people can get their money back,” Muheva said.The certificates issued by ‘Catering Institution of Namibia’ are invalid, he said.The authentic certificates are issued in the name of the Cleaning Training Centre, Muheva says, and should carry his signature.”The Cleaning Training Centre wants people to understand.It was not us who gave you this.We are trying to claim back your money.This has really dirtied the name of the company.We want justice done,” Muheva said.In a letter sent to traditional leaders in the Caprivi Region, Muheva said he suspected that the alleged fraud had been going on since September last year.Senior Police officers at the Katima Mulilo Police station have confirmed that they are investigating the matter.The suspects were arrested on April 18, and have since their first court appearance been released on N$500 bail each.