DOJ’s ‘Operation Ghostbusters’ targets massive student-aid fraud scheme built on fake enrollees
Federal law enforcement authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown dubbed, "Operation Ghostbusters," to dismantle an international student aid scheme that investigators estimate has been operating since 2021, "potentially reaching several hundred million dollars" in taxpayer losses.
Announcing the first wave of enforcement actions, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald revealed that organized syndicates have systematically stolen the identities of working Americans who never applied to college, using their information to enroll fictional "ghost students" at institutions nationwide and siphon federal financial aid directly into offshore accounts.
"These are not isolated errors," McDonald said at a news conference Thursday. "This is organized fraud at scale."
The sprawling operation currently spans more than 40 open cases across 26 FBI field offices and has already produced indictments against five defendants, as well as the international seizure of more than $750,000 in laundered cryptocurrency tied to networks in Kenya.
"If successful at duping the Department of Education, Ed then sends the aid money to the college where the ghost student is enrolled," McDonald said in his opening remarks. "After tuition and fees are deducted, the leftover federal funds are deposited directly into bank accounts controlled by fraudsters, and in a flash, the money vanishes, often overseas to places like Kenya.
"The methods used in these schemes are increasingly sophisticated.
"Some use super intelligence to fill out college applications and complete coursework, so it looks like the ghost student is actually completing the class.
"Some even create the appearance of a fake student in an online classroom to trick schools into believing a real person is present. The goal is to keep the ghost student in school for as long as possible, semester after semester after semester, stealing money from the taxpayer."
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Prosecutors allege that after tuition and fees were settled, leftover grant and loan disbursements were siphoned through domestic "money mules" and funneled abroad – including through fronts like a Nairobi safari company.
"We have already sent a team to Kenya to be on the ground for purposes of rooting out this fraud scheme and figuring out how it works on the ground in Kenya," McDonald said in the question and answer portion of the news conference.
And, unsuspecting victims facing ruined credit and bills for an education they never received, they warned.
"The complete story includes the plight of an American citizen who graduated high school and went straight to work to provide for his family," McDonald said. "He never applied to college, he never enrolled in classes, and he never asked for federal student aid. But one day, he finds his name attached to a loan from a school hundreds or thousands of miles away.
"His credit is now at risk and his name is on the bill."
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McDonald's timeline for the investigation began in earnest in April and includes alleged fraud that began in 2021 under the Biden administration, according to McDonald.
"If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you," he said. "Whether you're in Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, or Nairobi, we will pursue you and bring you to justice."
Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent pinned the Biden administration on this for having taken off fraud safeguards.
"When we walked in the door last January, we were extremely troubled to find that the Biden administration had turned off nearly every fraud detection measure, allowing critical funds to become the target of large-scale fraud," Kent said. "The federal student aid programs result in about a $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio. That's like turning off fraud detection efforts at Wells Fargo, which is just crazy."