US charges five in $750,000 ghost student financial aid fraud

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 30 Oct, 08:15 · Archive

The US Department of Justice has charged five people in a scheme to fraudulently enrol fake students and steal federal financial aid.

The US Department of Justice has charged five people in a sophisticated fraud scheme involving fake student enrolments and stolen federal financial aid. The network operated in the US and Kenya, with a fake safari company in Kenya used to bank the stolen funds. Three of the five defendants—Mabed Utate-Alberto, Patricia Perez and George Mendez—face charges in New Jersey for acting as money mules, opening bank accounts to send about $1.3 million to Kenya. Two Kenyan citizens were indicted in Nebraska and Virginia.

The Justice Department estimates the scheme has netted several hundred million dollars since at least 2021. Fraudsters used stolen identities to enrol fake students in colleges, with artificial intelligence used to complete coursework and create the appearance of attendance. In California, nearly one-third of community college applications submitted in 2024 were flagged as fraudulent. One Kenyan defendant, Francis Mogambi, allegedly diverted financial aid payments to himself, keeping 30 per cent and sending the remainder to associates in Kenya.

The Justice Department operation, dubbed 'Operation Ghostbusters', has resulted in the five indictments so far, with 40 further investigations ongoing. Hundreds of people have been affected after fraudsters stole their personally identifiable information to access federal student aid.

How it is being reported

• How Kenyans got caught in $130m US ghost student scamThe alleged scheme used stolen identities to claim US student aid, with Kenyans among those charged.BBC World · 30 Oct, 07:29
• DOJ busts ‘ghost students’, seizes $750k in stolen financial aid sent to Kenyan safari outfitThe Justice Department unveiled charges against five people accused of orchestrating a sophisticated campaign to rip off federal financial aid by enrolling "ghost students" who existed only on paper — seizing about $750,000 in ill-gotten funds.New York Post · 29 Oct, 22:15

In this story: US Department of Justice · Francis Mogambi · Patricia Perez · George Mendez · Mabed Utate-Alberto · Kenya · United States · New Jersey

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log