The University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, where Azizan claimed to have fulfilled the requirements for a doctorate in Psychology, has denied giving him any such award.
“With reference to your request for verification of award for the above, I can confirm that after a thorough search of our records we are not able to find any award or details for this person,” Anne Austin, assistant registrar at the British university, stated in a letter which has been circulating on the Internet.
“I can confirm that this award was not issued by the University of Hertfordshire and we believe this information to be fraudulent,” Austin concluded in the letter with “Azizan Osman” as its subject.
The authenticity of the letter was also confirmed by the university via its Twitter page, after Twitter user @JumatAzri attached a picture of the letter asking @UniofHerts if the statement was indeed from them.
The university replied, saying, “I can confirm the letter is genuine.”
Azizan, in a statement yesterday via his company Richworks, claimed that over the last four years, he had fulfilled the requirements for his PhD (Psychology) from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
“His convocation at University of Hertfordshire is due to take place soon,” Richworks had further stated.
With the “loss” of credentials from four universities in two weeks, Azizan is left with just a “Doctor of Science in Metaphysics” from Florida’s Gordon University.
Late last month, three Malaysian universities denied having awarded doctorates to Azizan.
Universiti Malaya (UM) was the first to come forward with a denial, followed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Infrastruktur Kuala Lumpur (IUKL).
Also in the statement yesterday, Richworks said that Azizan had been “targeted and misled” by several individuals not related to UM, purportedly into believing that he was to receive a doctorate from the university.
Richworks said this after a denial by UM that was posted on the university’s official Facebook page and other social media channels.
The company further claimed that “shortcomings in operation procedures” has caused the inclusion of doctorates from UKM and IUKL in Azizan’s list of credentials on his website, and that he himself never claimed to have doctorates from the said universities.
Azizan conducts motivational courses that relate to starting up businesses, and has a huge following locally, that includes some celebrities.