Phony credentials are on the rise and have become a global predicament. It has become a billion-dollar industry consisting of almost 4,000 diploma mills. These are bogus academic institutions that peddle certificates for all levels of degrees all over the world.
Recently, thousands of practicing nurses in the U.S. may be working with counterfeit academic credentials after federal officials exposed a suspected scheme at three South Florida nursing schools. The Department of Justice said Wednesday that the schools, now closed, have issued over 7,600 fake and undeserved nursing diplomas.
Shocking Scandal
The schools involved in the alleged scheme include Siena College, Palm Beach School of Nursing, and Sacred Heart International Institute. The Justice Department has charged more than two dozen people for their alleged involvement, saying they “engaged in a scheme to sell fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts obtained from accredited Florida-based nursing schools.” Each of those defendants now faces up to 20 years in prison.
Based on reports, the shocking scandal involved in the scheme are from out-of-state, in New York and New Jersey.
The nurses with the fake degrees went on to work in various settings, including for homebound children, assisted living facilities, and veteran affairs, and in several states, documents show, including Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland, and Texas.
The alleged schemes took place between 2016 and 2021.
American Nurses Association President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy said Thursday that the “coordinated conspiracy” is “disturbing” and “deeply unsettling.”
Fake credentials in US politics
In the US government, embellishing resumés is rampant, and exaggerating achievements isn’t a new thing. What a shocking scandal!
President Joe Biden had previously come under fire for overstating his academic record, saying that he graduated in the top half of his law class at Syracuse University in New York and that he graduated with three degrees instead of two.
The most recent is George Santos, a newly elected New York state representative, also under fire for misrepresenting his previous employment experiences and educational qualifications. However, he is not the first high-profile figure to deceptively “enhance” his academic credentials. He won’t be the last.
Many Americans have gotten in trouble for misrepresenting their achievements.
In the private sector, there was Scott Thompson who resigned from his post as CEO of Yahoo in 2012 when it was divulged that he hadn’t actually earned a degree in computer science which was written on his resume.
Another was David Tovar, a former vice president of communications at Walmart, who was ousted in 2014 after being with the company for nearly a decade for saying he had earned a degree he had not.
America’s “glitterati”
Felicity Huffman, the “Desperate Housewives” star, was the first of over 30 parents charged in the extensive criminal case to begin serving a prison sentence. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for paying $15,000 to the scam’s mastermind as part of a scheme to cheat on the SATs and boost her daughter’s test scores.
There is Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, who was also charged in 2019 for their involvement in the same scandal. The couple originally pleaded not guilty before eventually deciding to take a plea deal.
Loughlin, 56, was to serve two months in jail, pay a $150,000 fine, and complete 150 hours of community service. On the other hand, Giannulli, 57, got five months in jail, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours of service.
Fake degree-holders
According to Brian Dineen, an associate professor of management at Purdue University who also co-wrote a paper on fraud said that “If you hire somebody who’s misrepresented their resume, not only might you get somebody who has lesser qualifications but you might get somebody who’s likely to steal from the organization or commit other types of fraud.”
Definitely! Just take a look at the kind of leaders the US government has.
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