Twenty individuals either entered pleas of guilty or were convicted for active roles in an orchestrated scheme selling counterfeit nursing school degrees from South-Florida-based schools.
Reports are that all schools are closed.
A network of deceptive nursing schools
Reports are that a group of individuals, both residing in Florida and other U.S. states, were implicated in running and promoting three nursing schools actively participating in the fraud.
The institutions in question—Sacred Heart Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Sienna College of Health in Lauderhill, and Palm Beach School of Nursing in West Palm Beach—distributed over 7,600 fabricated nursing diplomas before their eventual closure.
Bogus credentials lead to employment
These fake credentials enabled buyers to qualify for and take the national nursing board examination.
“The bogus diplomas and transcripts qualified purchasers to sit for the national nursing board exam and, after passing it, to obtain licenses and jobs in various states as RNs and LPN/VNs,” said a Thursday news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.
The defendants were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud.
Reports are that those who were convicted were sentenced to over 21 months in prison. Most of the defendants will face sentencing later this year.
A staggering number of fake diplomas
The prosecution’s data reveals that approximately 7,600 students shelled out an average of $15,000 each for the diplomas.
A substantial number of these, around 2,400, subsequently managed to clear the requisite licensing exams, securing positions as RNs and LPN/VNs in various states.
Fraudulent nurses employed nationwide
According to reports, individuals bearing these counterfeit credentials found employment in various healthcare facilities across the nation.
They were absorbed into the workforce at diverse locations, including a Georgian hospital, Veterans Affairs medical centers in both Maryland and New York, an Ohio-based skilled nursing facility, and a New Jersey assisted living center.
Joint investigation efforts
The FBI and Health and Human Services Inspector General worked jointly on the investigation, dubbed “Operation Nightingale, in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.”
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