MIAMI — Five people have pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in a scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses at three schools, including the Palm Beach School of Nursing, federal prosecutors said Monday afternoon.
Krystal Lopez and Damian Lopez of Palm Beach County, Francois Legagneur of Nassau County, New York, Reynoso Seide of Union County, New Jersey and Yelva Saint Preux of Suffolk County, New York will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal in federal district court in Fort Lauderdale on July 27, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida said.
National News
DOJ: 7,600 fake nursing diplomas issued in scheme, 25 people arrested
During guilty plea hearings Damian Lopez, Legagneur, Seide and Saint Preux each admitted to soliciting and recruiting people seeking nursing degrees that would allow them to work as registered, licensed practical, or vocational nurses, the Department of Justice said.
The DOJ said they also admitted to working with Palm Beach School of Nursing to create and distribute fake diplomas and transcripts representing that the nursing candidates had attended the school and completed the necessary courses and clinicals to obtain their nursing diplomas.
But the aspiring nurses never completed the necessary courses and clinical, the DOJ said.
State
Closed Palm Beach School of Nursing linked to federal arrests in diploma scheme
Krystal Lopez admitted that in her role as Palm Beach School of Nursing’s finance director, she processed applications for individuals who were issued fake nursing school diplomas and transcripts and that each student paid the school $15,000 for the documents, the DOJ said.
The defendants all admitted to profiting from the scam, prosecutors said.
They each face up to 20 years in federal prison.
