MEC officials use fake degrees to earn up to 5 minimum wages

Paraguayan authorities are investigating more than 500 cases where individuals allegedly used fake educational credentials to secure higher salaries, primarily within the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC). The scheme reportedly allowed some MEC employees to earn up to five times the minimum wage by claiming bonuses based on fraudulent diplomas.

Minister of Education Luis Ramírez announced in June the potential existence of at least 500 non-authentic diplomas, mostly in Educational Sciences. The MEC subsequently reported about 145 cases of fake titles to the Public Prosecutor's Office. Further investigation revealed that over 500 irregular users accessed the system to illegally validate academic titles, making approximately 130,000 virtual movements during unusual hours or when the system was closed.

A team of prosecutors, led by Teresa Sosa Laconich, has been assigned to investigate these allegations. Sosa Laconich stated that some MEC officials are receiving high salaries due to bonuses linked to these fake diplomas. She noted that obtaining false degrees is a mechanism to secure better positions, particularly in the public sector, a phenomenon experts call "credentialism" – the rampant commodification of higher education through the purchase of degrees.

The investigation aims to uncover the extent of this "credentialism" within the state apparatus. The prosecutor's office is working to understand how these fraudulent documents were obtained and used to inflate salaries, particularly in a system where a fake university diploma could lead to earnings comparable to those of a state prosecutor.