such as Joseph Silny and Associates, Inc. or World Education Services can be accessed They were charged with conspiring to and committing wire fraud, prosecutors said. To be evaluated, all required transcripts need to be submitted from all institutions Executive Director / President. : 23-60012-Cr-Singhal. Photo: google. All trademarks are the property of their respective trademark holders. HHS: Insiders Pose Significant Cybersecurity Threat to Healthcare, Patients Sue Prince Georges Hospital After OB-GYN Faked Identity, 5 Ways Tech Can Help Patients Feel Safer in Your Healthcare Facility, Ex Hospital Respiratory Therapist Jennifer Hall Pleads Guilty in Deaths of 2 Patients, FBI 2022 Active Shooter Stats: Last Year U.S. Had Fewer Incidents but More Casualties. All schools are now defunct. "Health care fraud is nothing new to South Florida, as many scammers see this as a way to earn easy, though illegal, money," acting Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough said Wednesday. Individuals bought their fake nursing credentials for up to $15,000. She said a normal nursing school program lasts 22 months and can equate to four years at a large university. Related: HHS: Insiders Pose Significant Cybersecurity Threat to Healthcare. or both | Get started now. * Diplomas are not accepted as proof of high school completion or in place of transcripts. With the help of the fake degrees the nurses found jobs at nursing homes that took in Medicare and Medicaid-eligible patients. West Palm Beach, FL 33417. : 23-60007-Cr-Singhal. Qualified purchasers were allowed 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. Around 2,400 of those people then passed a licensing exam to obtain jobs as registered nurses and . The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools, Miami, Florida More than two dozen individuals have been charged in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses. Three Florida nursing schools soldthousands of fake nursing diplomas worth millions in a scheme that allowed aspiring nurses to bypass the required training to become licensed in the profession, federal prosecutors alleged Thursday. Fax Line: (305) 530-7679. These fake documents represented that the aspiring RN and LPN/VN candidates had attended Siena Colleges nursing program in Broward County and completed the necessary courses and clinicals to obtain RN or LPN/VN diplomas. Latest posts by Amanda Bucceri Androus, RN, BSN. "Tuition, I paid $16,000, not to mention I had to pay $99 to sit the exam," Brown said. Now theyve filed complaints with their state attorneys to try and see how they can get their money back. Many of those people may lose their certification but likely won't be criminally charged, federal officials said. The schools involved Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing and Sacred Heart International Institute are now closed. "Not only is this a public safety concern, it also tarnishes the reputation of nurses who actually complete the demanding clinical and course work required to obtain their professional licenses and employment," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts from Palm Beach School of Nursing. Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison. Fax: (561)683-6773. The indictment charges defendants Stanton Witherspoon of Burlington County N.J.; Alfred Sellu of Burlington County N.J.; and Rene Bernadel of Westchester County, N.Y. with conspiring to commit and committing wire fraud. "Plus I paid the plane fare, hotel, so roughly $25,000.". High School transcripts can be sent via secure PDF from the issuing institution to MIAMI Twenty-five people have been charged in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses at three now-closed schools, including the Palm Beach School of Nursing, federal prosecutors said Wednesday afternoon. USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov, Southern District of Florida The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, Fla., Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County. What is disturbing about this investigation is that there are over 7,600 people around the country with fraudulent nursing credentials who are potentially in critical health care roles treating patients. 33132, Telephone: (305) 961-9001 Student and Staff Safety: Addressing the Significant Rise in Mental Health Needs and Violence, Beyond Threat Assessment: Managing Threats with Appropriate Follow-up, Monitoring & Training, Mental Health in America: Test Your Awareness with This Quiz, Test Your Hospital Safety and Security Knowledge with These 9 Questions, IS-800 D National Response Framework Exam Questions. at transcriptevaluation@palmbeachstate.edu. Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing and Sacred Heart International Institute - all based in south Florida - combined to distribute more than 7,600 fraudulent diplomas worth over. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS U.S. v. Russ, et al., case no. Not only is this a public safety concern, it also tarnishes the reputation of nurses who actually complete the demanding clinical and course work required to obtain their professional licenses and employment, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe, who added that a fraud scheme like this erodes public trust in our health care system.. THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) / RECORDS MANAGEMENT. The college was run byEunide Sanon, who allegedly worked with three people, who are also charged, in New York and New Jersey who recruited aspiring nurses. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. According to the charging documents, Palm Beach School of Nursings objective was to prepare students to meet Floridas licensing and nursing board requirements and become eligible to take the national licensing exam in order to work as registered nurses. There are two categories of defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark is prosecuting this case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture. No students were named in the indictments. of International Admissions at international@palmbeachstate.edu. The investigation turned up about $114 million dollars of fake nursing diplomas that were sold across three formerly accredited schools: Palm Beach School of Nursing. MIAMI Federal authorities in Florida have charged 25 people with participating in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal shortcut for aspiring nurses to get licensed and find employment. The overall scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, Fla., Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County. Email Us. In fact, the aspiring nurses never completed the necessary courses and clinicals. Twenty-five defendants, including school directors and diploma recipients, were charged in the scheme and each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Miami, Fl. RELATED: Considering & Choosing a Nursing School. All rights reserved. minutes, too. There is a $5.00 non-refundable fee for each official transcript requested. to request a transcript. Telephone or Fax requests will not be honored. The charges speak to the purpose of a nursing license which is to protect the public from harm by setting minimum qualifications and competencies. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts fromSiena College. Postsecondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) Transcript Request, Blackboard Web Community Manager Privacy Policy (Updated). The diploma and transcripts arrived less than two weeks later from Palm Beach School of Nursing, showing a 3.4 grade point average. PBSD 1457 (Rev. NOTE:If you exited the District within the past 3 years, contact the last school you attended to process your records/transcript request.Official GED transcripts: visit the Florida Department of EducationRequest GEDPostsecondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) transcriptsfrom the Department of Adult & Community Education: complete aPostsecondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) Transcript Requestform. These Valuable Pennies Are Worth Thousands. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations, Miami Field Office; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General; United States Postal Inspection Service, Miami; and Florida Attorney General-Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Mid-Atlantic Field Office. Parent signatures for minors. Practical Nursing Program Specific Requirements 1. school or college/university attended. 22-60111-Cr-Smith and 22-60118-Cr-Smith). "They are monsters because you have to have clinical experience to do medication, to give IV, you can kill somebody," she said. Siena College was a school in Broward County, Florida that was licensed by the states board of nursing and its independent education commission to offer practical nursing and Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs. directly). Tags Health News Florida nurse nursing school fraud arrest Broward County Core Values Christ-centered EunideSanon managed Siena College. MIAMI More than two dozen individuals have been charged in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses. Have a question about Government Services? all right, chris, thank you. The alleged selling and purchasing of nursing diplomas and transcripts to willing but unqualified individuals is a crime that potentially endangers the health and safety of patients and insults the honorable profession of nursing, said Special Agent in Charge Omar Prez Aybar of Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). It is alleged that these recruiter defendants then arranged with Palm Beach School of Nursings owner Johanah Napoleon and school employees Gail Russ, Cheryl Stanley, Krystal Lopez, and Ricky Riley to create and distribute false and fraudulent diplomas and transcripts representing that the aspiring RN and LPN/VN candidates had attended Palm Beach School of Nursing and completed the necessary courses and clinicals to obtain RN or LPN/VN diplomas. The Palm Beach County school, which operated on 2695 N. Military Trail in West Palm Beach, offered an Associate in Science degree. date. Johanah Napoleon, the school's president, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, as well as wire fraud in 2022. Napoleon was previously charged by information and has pled guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, as well as wire fraud (case nos. One nurse worked at a Veterans Affairs-run home. Request for Student Records. Transcripts can be sent via secure PDF directly from the issuing institution to Admissions Recruiters would bring "students" from other states to get the "shortcut" documents from the South Florida school. There are two categories of defendants. From Nov. 2020 to July 2021, Charles Etienne, owner of Sacred Heart International Institute, and two others provided purchasers with 588 fake diplomas and transcripts. Please note that Palm Beach State College will only accept original educational records

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