The indictments come along with the seizure of more than $750,000 in cryptocurrency tied to the scheme through a network associated with Kenyan nationals, according to Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.
McDonald announced the indictments Thursday and said they were the result of an investigation dubbed “Operation Ghostbusters,” a nationwide effort to crack down on student-loan fraud schemes in which cybercriminals create fake Federal Student Aid accounts using stolen U.S. identities to enroll “ghost students” at various colleges and universities.
“This is the first international seizure of its kind in Kenya,” McDonald said. “If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build a future — we will find you.
“Whether you are in Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, or Nairobi, we will pursue you.”
“Every dollar that falls into the hands of a fraudster is a dollar that will not go to a student in need,” added Under Secretary Nicholas Kent for the Department of Education.
Assistant Director Heith Janke, of the FBI’s Criminal Division, said the FBI has identified more than $32 million in losses related to similar ghost student schemes. The DOJ said investigators in September and October identified 830,840 potentially fraudulent Federal Student Aid IDs connected to $130 million and recommended that the Department of Education disable those IDs.
