This place is so messed up. I hope the Board of Professional Licensing can get this guy in jail. Article in today's local paper from the Northern Mariana Islands:
School allegedly sells forged licensing docs
From the article:
School allegedly sells forged licensing docs
From the article:
A son of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday accused a Korean-owned school on Saipan of forging licensing documents and selling them to foreigners.
Jason Fitial, who used to work as “consultant” for the American Mediscience University, furnished the local media copies of allegedly fake licenses issued to seven Koreans.
The documents are virtually identical, except for the name of the recipient. They bear the Board of Professional Licensing logo and state that the recipient is authorized to practice electrical engineering in the Commonwealth. The licenses indicate Dec. 14, 2006 as issue date and Aug. 19, 2006 as date of original registration.
In an interview, Fitial said AMU used a real license and altered it by changing the name, with the intent to make money off of the fake document.
“They even got high school students to this illegal act,” said Fitial. “I just want this to stop before it gets worse.”
Fitial said he began working for the university in June 2006 and handled all of the university's licensing and similar transactions-“anything that deals with the government.” His stint at the school ended in February 2007 “because there's no work, period.”
AMU president Sung Kyu Kim, through a translator, denied Fitial's allegations. He said the university had nothing to do with the licenses.
According to Kim, a certain Mr. Ihm did the licenses. Mr. Ihm rents a space at the former Saipan Koresco Hotel, which now houses AMU.
Kim did not say what business Mr. Ihm engages in. But he said Mr. Ihm had no intention to sell the fake licenses; he only wanted to show potential Korean “applicants” what the CNMI license looks like.
Mr. Ihm is currently in Korea and is expected back in the Commonwealth later this week, Kim said.
Erwin Flores, an investigator at the Attorney General's Investigation Unit, said the allegations against AMU had been brought to the agency's attention.
“It's all based on allegations right now. We have to look into it before we can execute an actual case. If it should be addressed, it would be addressed,” Flores said.
In his State of the Commonwealth Address in April 2007, Governor Fitial touted AMU as an example of the CNMI's potential to become an educational hub.
“We have seen growing interest in the Commonwealth as a location for educational institutions, based largely on the unique advantages provided by the Commonwealth's special visa program for foreign students,” the governor said.
“Several foreign private schools, and two local private schools, are investigating the development of new educational programs aimed at attracting foreign students to the Commonwealth. The NMC Board of Regents, acting as the CNMI State Licensing Board, has been supportive of this new educational initiative, which seeks to attract substantial investments and to provide a broad range of jobs for local residents,” he added.
The American Mediscience University holds a provisional license from the State Licensing Board. The conditional license was issued in November 2006.
AMU intends to offer programs in oriental medicine, alternative medicine, and beauty arts and to attract students primarily from China and South Korea.
