The Ministry of Education has refuted media claims that a leaked exam certificate proved a student had paid a corrupt official in Battambang for a passing grade on his high school exam.

According to the interim report of a committee set up by the ministry to investigate the Fresh News story, the allegation that student Sat Sereibot paid Chhorn Chheang, deputy director of general knowledge at Battambang’s provincial education department, $650 for a passing grade 12 exam score in September was “not true”.

Education Ministry spokesman Ros Salin said that after verifying a second exam certificate, which showed a fail and was issued in November, the ministry agreed with Sereibot that this document was genuine.

The certificate issued in September, bearing the photo of a different student, and signed by Oeung Ngorhok, director of general knowledge at the Ministry of Education, was fake, Salin added, and was created to “frame someone or ruin someone’s reputation”.

When asked yesterday why his signature was on the falsified certificate, Oeung Ngorhok declined to offer an explanation. However, he said he agreed with the ministry’s findings.

Salin said the ministry was continuing to investigate in order to find and arrest whoever forged the certificate.