Cobham boss confirms fake degrees were bought by staff

Cobham (LON: COB) boss David Lockwood was forced to make a statement today regarding claims brought to light on BBC Radio last night regarding the purchase of 'fake degrees' for its employees.

Radio 4's File on Four show raised the issue of the company's Helicopter Services division purchasing fake degrees between 2013 and 2014 for tax purposes relating to employees based in Curacao.

According to the BBC, FB Heliservices (now Cobham Helicopter Services) purchased seven degrees for its employees from a company called Axact, who according to the BBC:

"...claims to be the "world's largest IT company" [and] operates a network of hundreds of fake online universities run by agents from a Karachi call centre."

Defence contractor FB Heliservices purchased the degrees for employees based in Curacao after the Government decided "all those working in the territory had to have a degree" according to one contractor who spoke to the BBC.

David Lockwood, Cobham CEO said:

"I instigated an immediate investigation by a leading law firm as soon as I was made aware of this issue. The investigation was conducted over a three month period and completed in June 2017.

It concluded that the issue was historic and related to the tax status of a small number of employees based in Curacao, was entirely unrelated to the performance of their roles, and had no impact upon the safety of any of its operations or the training of any individuals in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

Procedural and disciplinary actions have been taken to address the issues raised and the matter is now closed."

Other purchasers of degrees from fake institutions such as Nixon University include NHS consultants and nurses.

Cobham said its aircrew and engineers are...

"...highly trained professionals who hold the required licenses and qualifications to fulfil their roles, and these are routinely and independently audited."

Interestingly enough, shares in COB were up 2% at the time of writing.