Tags Health News Florida nurse nursing school fraud arrest Broward County Prosecutors said the scheme also involved transcripts from the nursing schools for people seeking licenses and jobs as registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses. Recruiters would bring "students" from other states to get the "shortcut" documents from the South Florida school. Nurses are frustrated by months-long delays to get licensed in some states, Short-staffed and COVID-battered, U.S. hospitals are hiring more foreign nurses. A credit card is needed for theeTranscriptfee, which is $5.90. 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. PLEASE NOTE: The contents of this website are for informational purposes only. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts fromSiena College. One nurse worked at a Veterans Affairs-run home. If they passed, they were able to obtain licenses and jobs in various states, prosecutors said. According to the charging documents, Palm Beach School of Nursing's objective was to prepare students to meet Florida's licensing and nursing board requirements and become eligible to take the national licensing exam in order to work as registered nurses. U.S. v. Russ, et al., case no. The School of Nursing offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs, features state-of-the-art lab resources and offers students a holistic approach to the nursing profession. Many of those people may lose their certification but likely won't be criminally charged, federal officials said. Palm Beach State College (PBSC) requires all incoming students, whether first year or transfer students, to submit all official academic transcripts from every high school or college/university attended. Investigators said about a third of the people actually are practicing medicine. Southern District of Florida Attend class in person, virtually Telephone or Fax requests will not be honored. The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) can also assist former students in locating information related to offsite storage of transcripts for schools that are no longer standing. To be evaluated, all required transcripts need to be submitted from all institutions 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. They were charged with conspiring to and committing wire fraud, prosecutors said. Postsecondary Career & Technical Education (CTE) Transcript Request, Blackboard Web Community Manager Privacy Policy (Updated). 2023 Registered Nursing.org All Rights Reserved | About | Privacy | Terms | Contact Us. 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. * Diplomas are not accepted as proof of high school completion or in place of transcripts. Miami, Florida - Today, a Miami federal grand jury returned an indictment charging two Lauderhill residents for their roles in a fraud conspiracy that sold fake nursing degrees to people who had not completed the required nursing coursework or clinicals. also accept certified copies of the documents. 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.. "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. "Plus I paid the plane fare, hotel, so roughly $25,000.". U.S. v. Witherspoon, et al., case no. palm beach school of nursing is located in West Palm Beach, FL, but also offers classes online. What Happens When a Nurse Has a Substance Abuse Problem? : 23-60007-Cr-Singhal. Official websites use .gov 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. THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PALM BEACH COUNTY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) / RECORDS MANAGEMENT. There is a $25.00 non-refundable fee for each duplicate diploma requested. 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. Around 2,400 of those people then passed a licensing exam to obtain jobs as registered nurses and . 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. Some schools will accept notarized copies of your own documents along with "proof" of the school's destruction. In 2021, an undercover FBI employee met with Fort Lauderdale businessman Geralda Adrien at her Fort Lauderdale office. Request for Student Records. The diploma and transcripts arrived less than two weeks later from Palm Beach School of Nursing, showing a 3.4 grade point average. "Tuition, I paid $16,000, not to mention I had to pay $99 to sit the exam," Brown said. The philosophy of the School of Nursing at Palm Beach Atlantic University is one that is Christ-centered and focused on the success of the students . The students paid a total of $114 million for the fake degrees between 2016 and 2021, the newspaper reported. minutes, too. Etienne is charged by information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Attorneys for defendants were not listed in a federal court database Thursday. The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison. The fake diplomas and transcripts qualified those who purchased them to sit for the national nursing board exam. Varela/Miami Herald via AP Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison. According to the court documents, 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. 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. "Nothing, nothing. 25 people were charged wednesday . 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! The nursing candidates used the fake diplomas and transcripts they purchased from Sacred Heart to obtain LPN/VN licenses in various states and nursing jobs withunwitting health care providers throughout the country. The indictment charges Ludnie Jean of Harris County, Texas; Serge Jean of Harris County, Texas; Simon Itaman of Harris County, Texas; Anna Itaman of Harris County, Texas; Rhomy Louis of Suffolk County, N.Y.; and Nadege Auguste of Broward Countywith conspiring to and committing wire fraud. Napoleon received largepayments for providing the fake diplomas, in one case taking in a $30,000 wire transfer from a co-defendant in 2021. 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. Charges Related to Fraudulent Nursing Diplomas and Transcripts from Palm Beach School of Nursing. 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. The fake diplomas and transcripts qualified those who purchased them to sit for the national nursing board exam. Fax: (561)683-6773. Defendants in each case face wire fraud-related charges. such as Joseph Silny and Associates, Inc. or World Education Services can be accessed More than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas were issued by the three nursing schools since 2016 at $15,000 each, netting them more than $114 million. 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. Our mission is to educate, affirm, and inspire each student in an equity-embedded school system. The U.S. Department of Justice announced . South Florida Sports Headlines Newsletter. Authorities said students paid between $6,000 and $18,000 for fake transcripts and certificates. The bleeding here is to stop those schools from being able to put more fraudulent diplomas out in the public sphere.". The information against Sanon alleges that he and others sold thousands of fake Siena College nursing diplomas and educational transcripts to nursing applicants who used them to obtain RN or LPN/VN licenses in various states and nursing jobs with unwitting health care providers throughout the country. Carleen Health Institute of South Florida Nursing and Healthcare Programs Plantation Campus 8320 West Sunrise Blvd, Suite #204 Plantation, FL 33322 Get directions West Palm Beach Campus 4645 Gun Club Road, #11 West Palm Beach, FL 33415 (561)656-4720 Get directions 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. From about Nov. 2018 to Oct. 2021, Sanon allegedly sold 2,016 fake diplomas and transcripts that falsely purported that recipients had completed the necessary courses and training at Siena College to obtain such degrees when they never had, according to the criminal complaint. Brown, along with several students, left the program when they realized it was a scam. 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. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, Public Affairs Unit 2023 Emerald X, LLC. Stop the bleeding. The other 10 charged were listed as recruiters, including seven from New Jersey or New York. Copyright 2002-2023 Blackboard, Inc. All rights reserved. Amanda Bucceri Androus is a Registered Nurse from Sacramento, California. Main Office: Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark is prosecuting this case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.
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