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25 Florida School Officials Charged In Scheme That Sold 7,600 Fraudulent Nursing Degrees

<p>Federal authorities in Florida have brought charges against 25 people who participated in a &&num;8220&semi;wire fraud scheme&&num;8221&semi; that facilitated a shortcut for aspiring nurses to become licensed&period; According to the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apnews&period;com&sol;article&sol;health-florida-miami-fraud-0ff3f38e83e97c3de07f082ac5532a2c" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Associated Press<&sol;a>&comma; the scheme &&num;8220&semi;sold more than 7&comma;600 fraudulent nursing degree diplomas from three Florida-based nursing schools&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid&equals;"1618886047131205632" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"480"><&sol;amp-twitter><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">The Fraudulent Nursing Diploma Scheme Poses A Huge Health Concern<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>In addition&comma; prosecutors say the nursing schools also facilitated transcripts for people &&num;8220&semi;people seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses and licensed practical&sol;vocational nurses&period;&&num;8221&semi; The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>U&period;S&period; Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe shared his thoughts about the scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>Not only is this a public safety concern&comma; it also tarnishes the reputation of nurses who actually complete the demanding clinical and course work required to obtain their professional licenses and employment&&num;8230&semi; a fraud scheme like this erodes public trust in our health care system&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>According to the outlet&comma; the fake diplomas and transcripts allowed purchasers to sit for the national nursing board exam&period; And if they passed&comma; they could obtain jobs and licenses in various states&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Siena College&comma; Palm Beach School of Nursing&comma; and Sacred Heart International Institute — the three involved schools — have now been closed&period; Investigators &&num;8220&semi;have not found&&num;8221&semi; that any of the nurses who received the fake transcripts or degrees &&num;8220&semi;caused harm to patients&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode&equals;"Cn5j54zpx1W" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"600" data-captioned><&sol;amp-instagram><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Students Reportedly Paid &dollar;114M For Fake Degrees Between 2016-2021<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Purchasers paid &dollar;114 million for fake degrees between 2016 and 2021&period; The cost for an individual diploma ran as high as &dollar;15&comma;000&comma; as reported by <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;abcnews&period;go&period;com&sol;US&sol;feds-announce-massive-takedown-fraudulent-nursing-diploma-scheme&sol;story&quest;id&equals;96619487" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">ABC News<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Out of the 7&comma;600 degrees sold&comma; 2&comma;400 purchasers passed their licensing exams&period; And those people were located &&num;8220&semi;mainly in New York&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The outlet notes that nurses &&num;8220&semi;certified in New York are allowed to practice in Florida and many other states&period;&&num;8221&semi; According to the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;apnews&period;com&sol;article&sol;health-florida-miami-fraud-0ff3f38e83e97c3de07f082ac5532a2c" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Associated Press<&sol;a>&comma; those people could lose their certification&period; But most likely&comma; will not face criminal charges&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid&equals;"1618600009305362435" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"480"><&sol;amp-twitter><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Defendants in the case include &&num;8220&semi;owners&comma; operators and employees&&num;8221&semi; of the schools who &&num;8220&semi;prepared and sold fake nursing school diplomas and transcripts to nursing candidates&period;&&num;8221&semi; According to the outlet&comma; the defendants knew the candidates &&num;8220&semi;would use those false documents to one&comma; sit for nursing board examinations&comma; secure nursing licenses&comma; and three ultimately obtain nursing jobs in medical facilities &&num;8212&semi; not only in Florida&comma; but elsewhere across the country&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Additional defendants charged in the case include &&num;8220&semi;recruiters&&num;8221&semi; who would bring in &&num;8220&semi;would-be buyers&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style&equals;"justify-content&colon; center&semi;&semi;"> <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-container" data-ver&equals;"1&period;3&period;10" data-post&lowbar;id&equals;"109744" data-show&lowbar;count&equals;"true" data-enable&lowbar;share&equals;"onclick" data-behavior&equals;"regular" data-animation&equals;"true" data-share&lowbar;url&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;25-scheme-that-sold-7600-fraudulent-nursing-degrees&sol;" data-secure&equals;"6042cd2d6f"> <div class&equals;"wpra-call-to-action" style&equals;"color&colon; 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Jadriena Solomon

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