‘I have built my life and career on lies’: How an Indian student’s online confession ended in deportation

A 19-year-old Indian student Aryan Anand, submitted false documents, including academic transcripts, financial statements, and even a fake death certificate for his father, to secure a full scholarship to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem, as disclosed in a Reddit post. The student pleaded guilty earlier this month in Northampton County.
The truth was revealed when a Reddit moderator flagged Anand’s post titled: “I have built my life and career on lies,” in which he described how he submitted forged documents.
The moderator then reached out to Lehigh University after noticing that it was the only university Anand followed on the platform.
Anand, who had been enrolled at Lehigh, was arrested two months ago on various charges, including felony counts of forgery and theft of services and faced a potential sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison. However, at the request of university officials, his punishment was limited to expulsion from the school and deportation back to India.
“It was difficult to really verify these things. I think that was great work by Lehigh and their police force. They were able to really dig deep and find all this really was false,” said Northampton County Assistant DA Michael Weinert.
Meanwhile, Lehigh University released a statement expressing their appreciation for the report to their ethics hotline and the thorough investigation conducted by the Lehigh University Police Department, which led to Anand’s arrest.