South Korean professor convicted of faking Yale degree

A South Korean court has sentenced a disgraced former university professor to 18 months in jail for faking her Yale doctorate and embezzling official museum funds.

Court officials say 36-year-old Shin Jeong-ah was convicted for using her fake Yale degree to become an art history professor at the Buddhist-affiliated Dongguk University in Seoul. A court spokesman says she also acquired financial support from businesses for an art museum she was working for.

Dongguk University said last week it was suing Yale for at least $50 million in damages, saying the Ivy League school wrongly confirmed that Shin earned a degree.

Yale has called the matter an administrative error.

-with a report from CP