Twenty people both entered pleas of responsible or had been convicted for energetic roles in an orchestrated scheme selling counterfeit nursing school degrees from South-Florida-based colleges.
Studies are that every one colleges are closed.
A community of misleading nursing colleges
Studies are {that a} group of people, each residing in Florida and different U.S. states, had been implicated in working and selling three nursing colleges actively taking part within the fraud.
The establishments in query—Sacred Coronary heart Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Sienna School of Well being in Lauderhill, and Palm Seaside Faculty of Nursing in West Palm Seaside—distributed over 7,600 fabricated nursing diplomas earlier than their eventual closure.
Bogus credentials result in employment
These faux credentials enabled consumers to qualify for and take the nationwide nursing board examination.
“The bogus diplomas and transcripts certified purchasers to take a seat for the nationwide nursing board examination and, after passing it, to acquire licenses and jobs in varied states as RNs and LPN/VNs,” mentioned a Thursday information launch from the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace of the Southern District of Florida.
The defendants had been charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud.
Studies are that those that had been convicted had been sentenced to over 21 months in jail. Many of the defendants will face sentencing later this yr.
A staggering variety of faux diplomas
The prosecution’s information reveals that roughly 7,600 college students shelled out a median of $15,000 every for the diplomas.
A considerable variety of these, round 2,400, subsequently managed to clear the requisite licensing exams, securing positions as RNs and LPN/VNs in varied states.
Fraudulent nurses employed nationwide
In accordance with stories, people bearing these counterfeit credentials discovered employment in varied healthcare amenities throughout the nation.
They had been absorbed into the workforce at various places, together with a Georgian hospital, Veterans Affairs medical facilities in each Maryland and New York, an Ohio-based expert nursing facility, and a New Jersey assisted dwelling heart.
Joint investigation efforts
The FBI and Well being and Human Providers Inspector Basic labored collectively on the investigation, dubbed “Operation Nightingale, in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of recent nursing.”
