Huge nursing diploma scheme results in hunt for two,800 fraudulent nurses

Greater than 2,800 individuals could also be working as nurses beneath false pretenses after allegedly shopping for a faux diploma for between $10,000 and $15,000 from an enormous Florida-based scheme just lately busted by federal investigators. State and federal authorities are actually working to trace down the alleged fraudulent nurses, and in some instances, instantly annulling their licenses.

Final week, the Division of Justice introduced costs in opposition to 25 individuals in 5 states related to the alleged scheme. The investigation, code-named Operation Nightingale, discovered proof that the 25 defendants labored to promote greater than 7,600 faux diplomas, together with transcripts, between 2016 and 2021, making over $100 million within the course of. The fraudulent diplomas and transcripts had been allegedly issued from three accredited Florida-based nursing colleges: Siena School and Sacred Coronary heart Worldwide Institute in Broward County and Palm Seaside College of Nursing in Palm Seaside County.

The three colleges are actually closed and the 25 defendants every resist 20 years in jail.

“Well being care fraud is nothing new to South Florida, as many scammers see this as a option to earn straightforward, although unlawful, cash,” appearing Particular Agent in Cost Chad Yarbrough, FBI Miami, stated in a press release. “What’s disturbing about this investigation is that there are over 7,600 individuals across the nation with fraudulent nursing credentials who’re doubtlessly in important well being care roles treating sufferers.”

With a faux diploma and transcript, an unscrupulous aspiring nurse can qualify to take the nationwide nursing board examination. And in the event that they go the examination, they’ll develop into licensed nurses and get a job in a well being care setting. Federal authorities reported that of the 7,600 individuals with the alleged faux diplomas, round 37 %—greater than 2,800 individuals—handed the examination. Many went on to get jobs as licensed nurses.

“Deplorable”

Now, authorities are attempting to trace down these nurses. Courtroom paperwork indicated that among the questionable nurses had been employed at Veterans Affairs hospitals in Maryland and New York, a hospital in Georgia, and a talented nursing facility in Ohio, amongst different locations.

Late final week, the Delaware State Board of Nursing annulled the licenses of 26 individuals working as nurses after acquiring allegedly faux levels. “All of us really feel that is egregious,” Pamela Zickafoose, the manager director of Delaware’s Board of Nursing, advised a neighborhood ABC Information affiliate.

On Monday, reporters in Georgia reported that there are 22 individuals working as nurses within the state with allegedly faux diplomas. The Georgia Board of Nursing despatched letters to the 22 individuals on January 17 requesting that they voluntarily give up their licenses inside 30 days. As of January 30, none had achieved so.

Additionally on Monday, Washington state’s Nursing Care High quality Assurance Fee introduced it had recognized 150 nursing candidates utilizing credentials from the alleged scheme. In line with KING5 in Seattle, of the 150 individuals, seven have had their licenses rescinded, 4 candidates had been denied, 62 are in authorized limbo, and the remaining 77 are beneath investigation.

In a press release, American Nurses Affiliation President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy known as the alleged scheme “extraordinarily unsettling” and people concerned “deplorable.”

“This undermines every little thing the nursing occupation represents and stands for and is in direct opposition to the Code of Ethics for Nurses,” she continued. “Moreover, these illegal and unethical acts disparage the fame of precise nurses in every single place … We assist the investigation and the judicial course of to make sure people discovered to have been concerned on this scheme are held accountable.”