Photo: google. The Department of Justice along with the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General carried out the investigation, dubbed Operation Nightingale. There are two categories of defendants. Santaluces Community High / Homepage - School District of Palm Beach County 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. Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison. Federal Enforcement on Falsifying Thousands of Nursing Credentials Two business people charged with selling fake nursing degrees | Miami Palm Beach State College (PBSC) requires all incoming students, whether first year U.S. v. Russ, et al., case no. : 23-60005-Cr-Smith, U.S. v. Sanon, case no. No students were named in the indictments. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida atwww.flsd.uscourts.govor athttp://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century. Up to 7,600 fraudulent diplomas were sold at $15,000 each, authorities said. AICE, AP, IB, or CLEP Please submit these transcripts electronically to transcriptevaluation@palmbeachstate.edu. What To Do When Your School No Longer Physically Exists, Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Programs (AGNP), Womens Health Nurse Practitioner Programs, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), How Nurses Can Promote Vaccines Without Promoting Vaccines, CDC Estimates of Nurse & Healthcare Worker COVID-19 Cases Are Likely Understated, How Nurses Are Keeping Up With Practice Agreement Changes During COVID-19. NOTE: International students applying for F1 Visa / I-20 are advised to contact the office Officials are trying to track down nurses with fake degrees from Fla We will temporarily accept (due to COVID-19) clear copies of your high school diploma Investigators said about a third of the people actually are practicing medicine. 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. 22-60111-Cr-Smith and 22-60118-Cr-Smith). Many of those people may lose their certification but likely won't be criminally charged, federal officials said. No students were named in the indictments. If you do not want your email addresses released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. 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. Please note that Palm Beach State College will only accept original educational records Group ranks health care industry's lowlights in 2022, FDA vaccine panel to consider annual COVID shots, Florida doc sentenced to 20 years in prison, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy, The DOJ is prosecuting participants in the alleged scheme in five separate cases. Florida Public High Schools and Charter schools Please request that transcripts be submitted electronically via FASTER. The nursing applicants used the fake diplomas and transcripts they purchased from the owner and employees of Palm Beach School of Nursing to obtain RN or LPN/VN licenses in various states and nursing jobs with unwitting health care providers throughout the country. She said a normal nursing school program lasts 22 months and can equate to four years at a large university. They were charged with conspiring to and committing wire fraud, prosecutors said. 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. Nursing school in West Palm Beach named in fraudulent diploma - MSN Were it not for the diligence and hard work of the investigators on this case, the extent of this fraud may not have been discovered.". The 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. Lois M. Gackenheimer Richards, PhD Ed, MSN, RN. Fax Line: (305) 530-7679. This discussion will help participants analyze, understand, and assess their own program effectiveness. Submission of college transcripts from postsecondary institutions outside the United Have a question about Government Services? If they passed, they were able to obtain licenses and jobs in various states,. such as Joseph Silny and Associates, Inc. or World Education Services can be accessed Carleen Health institute In Fort Lauderdale, Fl High School transcripts can be sent via secure PDF from the issuing institution to What You Need to Know About Angel's Trumpet, 40 Years Later, Adam Walsh's Abduction and Murder Not Forgotten in South Florida, Check Your Change! Defendants sold fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools to individuals seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses, according to three recently unsealed indictments returned by a South Florida federal grand jury on Jan. 12 and information filed by federal prosecutors. 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. : 23-60010-Cr-Smith, U.S. v. Etienne, case no. : 23-60007-Cr-Singhal. Documentation of successful completion of post-secondary. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe speaks at a news conference in Miami on Wednesday about a network of nursing school operators, centered in South Florida, who allowed students to buy diplomas without the proper training. Health care fraud is nothing new to South Florida, as many scammers see this as a way to earn easy, though illegal, money, said acting Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough, FBI Miami. 25 people were charged wednesday . 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. 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. NBC 6's Xochitl Hernandez has more on what the student had to say in an interview you'll see Only on 6. : 23-60010-Cr-Smith, U.S. v. Etienne, case no. Some of those who purchased degrees were from South Florida's Haitian-American community, including some with legitimate LPN licenses who wanted to become registered nurses, the Miami Herald reported. Postsecondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) Transcript Request, Blackboard Web Community Manager Privacy Policy (Updated). Mailing address to submit official sealed transcripts: Palm Beach State College 4200 Congress Avenue, MS#13Lake Worth, FL 33461, Start of Top Menu - Press Esc key to Close. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. In her spare time she likes to read, travel, write, and spend time with her husband and two children. Prosecutors alleged recruiters arranged with Palm Beach School of Nursings owner, Napoleon, and school employees Gail Russ, Cheryl Stanley, Krystal Lopez and Ricky Riley to create and distribute false and fraudulent diplomas and transcripts. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts from Sacred Heart International Institute, U.S. v. Jean, et al., case no. Students should download and print theHome Education Graduation Affidavit form. 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. Online tracking is available 24/7. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts fromSacred Heart International Institute, U.S. v. Jean, et al., case no. To report waste, fraud, corruption, or abuse, please call the Inspector General Hotline: (855) 561-1010. Our Platform.
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