Twenty-one indicted in alleged student aid fraud schemes
BY COURTENAY EDELHART Californian staff writer cedelhart@bakersfield.com
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday announced the indictment of 21 people accused of participating in federal student aid fraud schemes at 15 schools, including Bakersfield College.
The indictments resulted from a U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General criminal investigation aimed at shutting down federal student aid fraud rings.
"Federal student aid exists so that individuals can make their dream of a higher education a reality, not for criminals to use as a personal slush fund," said Inspector General Kathleen Tighe in a statement released Tuesday.
Several of the alleged fraud schemes abused online education programs in which students are not required to be physically present on campus.
Prosecutors are pursuing seven separate cases against 21 defendants. Two of those cases involved Bakersfield College.
Shauna Marie Fabrega, 32, of Palmdale and April Lynn Myles, 35, of Lancaster both recruited individuals to pose as students and apply for federal student aid funds at Bakersfield College and other schools, according to the indictment. The recruited applicants were not students and did not attend classes at the colleges.
Fabrega and Myles also stole personal identifying information from individuals without their knowledge and used it to apply for aid, according to prosecutors. The money is supposed to be for books, room and board, commuting and other educational expenses, but instead the women pocketed the money, according to the indictment.
Myles also applied for funds in her own name and enrolled herself in courses at Bakersfield College and Santa Barbara Community College even though she was not eligible to enroll at the schools because she is not a high school graduate, according to the indictment.
Fabrega's activity cost the Education Department $70,000, and Myles cost the department $80,000, according to the Justice Department.
The defendants are charged with a variety of felonies, including conspiracy, financial aid fraud, identity theft, mail fraud and wire fraud.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
The Kern County Sheriff's Office is out of control. That's one conclusion many people will draw based on the events of the past two weeks and in the context of recent years.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.
Classes were canceled at Bakersfield High School Monday after three small bottle bomb explosions struck campus, authorities said.
Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.