The Education Ministry yesterday suspended recognition of degrees from Serbian universities after certificates issued to Greek students were proven to be forgeries.

The decision came after police in Serbia implicated the country’s Deputy Education Minister Emilija Stankovic and nine academics in an alleged forged degree scam. They are all suspected of accepting bribes for passing certain students in examinations and offering them university degrees for a fee.

Greek ministry staff and academics are also suspected of involvement in the scam, Agence France-Presse quoted the ministry as saying.

According to Greece’s Deputy Education Minister Spyros Taliadouros, some 50 forged degree certificates from Serbian universities have been submitted for recognition by Greek authorities over the past three years.

Taliadouros said that he has directed the Inter-University Center for the Recognition of Foreign Degrees (DOATAP) to stop recognition of degrees from Serbia and to double-check all Serbian degrees that have been accredited to date.