The key facts

  • A 48-year-old resident of the Ivanovo region ordered a fake Sechenov University diploma to get a job as a doctor in Germany
  • The forgery was uncovered by FSB officers; the man was detained and a criminal case for using a forged document was opened
  • A lawyer previously explained: a fake diploma presented at hiring is grounds for dismissal under clause 11 of part 1 of article 81 of the Labor Code, regardless of the elapsed time

An attempt to move to Germany with a fake diploma

A 48-year-old resident of the Ivanovo region was planning to move to Germany and work at one of the medical facilities. For this purpose, he ordered a fake diploma in the specialty of General Medicine, allegedly issued by Sechenov University in 2009. This was reported by the Telegram channel 112.

Detention and criminal case

In January, the man received the 'document', but the plan did not work out: according to the Telegram channel, the forgery was uncovered by FSB officers, and he was detained. A criminal case has been opened for using a forged document — writes Gazeta.Ru citing the channel's publication.

What a fake diploma means for employment

The context of the incident is supplemented by an earlier comment from the head of the legal department at VMT Consult, Sofya Lukinova, quoted by Gazeta.Ru: an employer may dismiss an employee for presenting a fake diploma when applying for a job, but this requires official confirmation that the document was indeed never issued. According to her, the grounds for terminating the contract are clause 11 of part 1 of article 81 of the Labor Code — presenting forged documents when concluding an employment contract, and the period of time elapsed between hiring and the discovery of the forgery does not matter.

Similar cases

It was previously reported that in the Leningrad region, a cardiologist treated children using fake diplomas. Thus, the story of the Ivanovo 'doctor' is not an isolated incident: the forgery of medical diplomas affects not only labor relations but also patient safety, although in this new case the man never got as far as working in the profession.