St. Regis buyers list is published by Spokane Spokesman-Review
Buyers of bogus degrees named,
Bill Morlin,
Spokane, Washington
Spokesman-Review,
July 30, 2008. Here is a link to a buyer's name search utility.
Hundreds of people working in the military, government and education are on a list of almost 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying phony and counterfeit high school and college degrees from a Spokane diploma mill.
The complete list of buyers, which the U.S. Department of Justice has refused to release to the public, has been obtained by The Spokesman-Review.
"There are people in high places with these degrees, and only one of them has been charged with a crime," a source familiar with the list said Monday.
A preliminary analysis of the list by The Spokesman-Review shows 135 individuals with ties to the military, 39 with links to educational institutions and 17 employed by government agencies. Those numbers were derived from e-mail addresses that are part of the list obtained by the newspaper.
However, the exact number of individuals with ties to the military, government and education is believed to be far greater because many of those buyers used their personal e-mail accounts.
The list includes NASA employee Timothy Francis Gorman, who bought an electrical engineering degree using his e-mail account at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to correspond with the diploma mill, and U.S. Department of Health oncology expert Frank S. Govern, who purchased a doctorate in health care administration.
National Security Agency employees David W. Barden and Barry A. Hester both bought degrees. Hester, who was a computer Web trainer and designer for the NSA with top-secret clearance, paid $1,187 for an information systems and technology degree, the list shows.
Eric Gregory Cole, who was a contract employee for the Central Intelligence Agency, paid $3,801 for a degree in information systems management. His top-secret clearance at the CIA was revoked late last year, months after his name was forwarded to the Office of Inspector General, according to one source.
"It was like pulling teeth to get them to do anything about this guy," the source said.
Eight people who set up and operated the diploma mill, including ringleader Dixie Ellen Randock, were indicted and convicted of federal crimes. Randock, a 58-year-old high school dropout, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Government prosecutors will recommend that same sentence for her husband, Steve, who is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5. The Randocks sold thousands of counterfeit degrees and transcripts from legitimate colleges, and phony degrees and transcripts from nonexistent online universities and schools.
Only one buyer former deputy U.S. marshal David F. Brodhagen, who was forced into early retirement has been charged criminally as an outgrowth of the case.
At least one other deputy U.S. marshal, Michael Cameron, is on the list showing he bought a criminal justice degree from the Spokane diploma mill.
Also on the list are William R. Church, a senior military adviser working in the White House, and George Michael Navadel, a U.S. State Department computer systems negotiator, who paid $5,400 for a doctorate in network engineering.
Duwayne Huss, an employee of Nuclear Management Co., operator of two nuclear plants in Minnesota, bought degrees in nuclear engineering and accounting.
"I can't give you information about our employees," company spokeswoman Mary Sadock said Monday when asked if Huss was still employed.
Author Bonita E. Broyles, who has written a series of books about prescription dosages and nursing care, bought a doctorate in education for $2,225, the list shows.
Richard J. Caverly, of Colbert, paid $236 for a degree in construction management before getting a job in May 2006 as a building inspector with the city of Spokane. He worked as a temporary building inspector before getting a job in December 2006 as a project employee, tracking down construction under way without a permit, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.
Caverly was "released" from that job in December, according to Feist, who couldn't provide specifics.
Brett C. Jarmin paid $1,041 for a bachelor of science degree in criminology and criminal justice. Jarmin had worked as chief of police in Edgemont, S.D.
Jarmin was fired in October 2000 after helping his department to unionize. He later sued Edgemont city officials, settling out of court in 2006.
His telephone number has been disconnected.
Michael J. Hoilien, who worked for the Air Force in Fayetteville, N.C., bought a medical degree. His current employment status couldn't be immediately confirmed.
Alan P. Hernandez, a police officer in San Antonio, paid $2,630 for a bachelor's and a Ph.D. in criminal justice, then went to work as an adviser and counselor for one of the Randocks' bogus online universities.
Roger L. Anderson, an enlisted man in the military, and his wife, Karen R. Jones-Anderson, who also was enlisted, bought counterfeit degrees from Texas A&M one of 66 legitimate universities whose diplomas were copied and sold by the Spokane diploma mill. With their degrees, they became officers but now may face courts-martial or ouster from the military.
Bogus college degrees were purchased by Marilyn Clark Kennedy, who worked as director of health services for the Barstow, Calif., School District, and Bruce Yampolski, director of operations for the Department of Health in St. Louis, Mo.
John G. Simmers, employed by Virginia's Department of Corrections, paid $2,682 for three degrees. It couldn't be confirmed if he used the degrees for job promotions, pay increases or a boost in retirement checks.
In the education field, Bart G. Anderson, superintendent of a school district in Columbus, Ohio, bought a doctoral degree in public administration, and Douglas Lane Gill, who worked as an ROTC instructor for the Norwalk Public Schools in Bridgeport, Conn., bought two degrees. Investigators are attempting to determine whether Gill was reimbursed by the federal government for the $1,431 he paid for his advanced education.
Remah Moustafa Ahmed Kamel, a 43-year-old Saudi Arabian, bought degrees in obstetrics and gynecology, but investigators don't know whether he's practicing in those medical fields in his home country.
"No one is looking at any of the foreign purchasers to see what they're doing with these degrees," one law enforcement source said.
Jim McDevitt, the U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington who had refused to release the buyers' list, expressed only mild displeasure Monday when told the list was in the public domain.
"We did not release the list because it was our legal obligation not to release it, and I stand by that decision," McDevitt said when reached at a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Investigators who worked Operation Gold Seal are in the process of forwarding the list to all 50 state attorneys general and various other agencies, including the Washington State Department of Health.
"There's a leak in every system," McDevitt said when asked if he was surprised that the list was on the newspaper's Web site.
The reluctance of the Justice Department to prosecute at least some additional buyers may soon change.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, it was learned Monday, is considering pursuing charges against an estimated 300 federal employees who bought bogus or counterfeit degrees.
Investigators are considering using a federal law that allows them to charge individuals who have fraudulently obtained credentials giving them access to or jobs in U.S. government facilities.
"There are a number of different public safety concerns out there," one source said.
Reached in Seattle on Monday, Homeland Security spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said, "We're aware of this issue, and we will take the appropriate action, but because it's an ongoing investigation, I cannot discuss the specifics with you at this time."
Some numbers gleaned from the list of 9,612 names of people who bought counterfeit or bogus degrees and certificates from Spokane-based diploma mills:
Anthony McGugan, of Barnegat, N.J., spent $24,088 on 16 different degrees and certificates between 1983 and 2002, including a doctor of theology, a masters of theology in systematic theology, a Master of Social Work in addiction counseling, bachelor's degrees in human services and biblical studies, and certificates in addiction therapy, family and youth counseling, ministry education, Christian education, interpersonal relationships, addiction counseling, professional counseling, substance abuse counseling and social development. That was twice as many degrees and certificates as anyone else on the list.
Randall Dale McVay, of Washington, D.C., and Thurman Towry, who has no address in the list, each bought eight degrees or certificates. Towry bought a Ph.D, certificates indicating an associate professorship and a full professorship in business administration, and multiple degrees in business administration.
McVay, who was a senior official at Bolling Air Force Base, bought a Ph.D. in management and a Ph.D. in occupational health, and certificates in project management, production management and organizational management.
Four people bought seven degrees or certificates; 10 bought six degrees or certifcates; 22 bought five degrees or certificates; and 76 bought four.
Of the 9,612 purchasers, 826 bought at least one Ph.D. and 41 bought two doctorates.
Some of those doctorates were awarded in health-related fields, including at least two naturopathic doctorates, two doctorates in naturopathic medicine, one Ph.D. in medicine and one "medical" Ph.D. An Australian bought a Ph.D. in natural and nutritional sciences. A customer without a listed address bought a Ph.D. in molecular mwedicine. Another customer, also without an address listed in the database, bought a Ph.D. in veterinary medicine and epidemiology, and a Master of Science in veterinary clinical medicine.
Staff writer John Stucke contributed to this report. Bill Morlin can be reached at billm@spokesman.com. Jim Camden can be reached at jimc@spokesman.com.
Hundreds Linked to Diploma Mill:
Government, Military Probed For Violators,
Valerie Strauss,
Washington DC
The Washington Post,
July 30, 2008.
Scores of people in Maryland, Virginia and the District are on a list compiled by federal investigators of more than 9,600 people who might have purchased fraudulent high school diplomas and college degrees, including some who appear to work in government and the military.
Federal authorities are studying the list for U.S. employees who might have purchased a diploma or degree from an Internet-based diploma mill that operated out of Washington state, said Brandon A. Montgomery, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Matched names will be sent to the agencies where the person works for possible administrative action, he said.
Names on the list might include some people who only inquired about purchasing a degree. The list includes at least 160 people in Virginia, 117 in Maryland and 17 in the District. At least 20 of those appear to be military personnel, and at least 10 appear to be government employees or contractors. Of 9,612 names listed, 5,212 are without state identification.
"Literally you could have someone using a diploma in an extremely harmful way if they are not properly trained," said Kristen Nelson, director of communications and government relations for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, where the state legislature this year passed a law making it illegal to fraudulently use a phony degree.
The Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper obtained the list and posted it on its Web site on Monday, the Associated Press reported. The Washington Post obtained it from a state government official on condition of anonymity. Efforts by The Post this week to contact people on the list for comment were unsuccessful.
The list, which has not been made public by the government, was compiled during an eight-month federal investigation in Washington state into an international diploma operation that was run from 1999 through 2005. It sold more than $6 million worth of phony high school diplomas and undergraduate and graduate degrees to people in more than 130 countries.
According to court documents in Washington state, the conspirators also sold counterfeit diplomas and academic products purporting to be from legitimate academic institutions, such as the University of Maryland, George Washington University, the University of Missouri and Texas A&M University.
Those operating the scam created numerous phony schools, including St. Regis University, Ameritech University, Pan America University, James Monroe University, James Monroe High School, All Saints American University and New Manhattan University. Without doing any academic work, their customers could purchase such degrees as a bachelor of arts, a bachelor of science, a master of arts, a master of science and a doctor of philosophy.
Eight people have been or will soon be sentenced in the scam. Dixie Ellen Randock, 58, a leader of the diploma mill, was sentenced this month in Washington state to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Her daughter was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and Randock's husband will be sentenced Aug. 5. Others involved will be sentenced later this year.
Investigators said the use of phony degrees poses national security and other risks, with some people seeking to use them to facilitate entry into the United States. Higher education advocates who monitor diploma mills tried to persuade the federal government to release the list, saying it is important to ensure that no one is using the degrees fraudulently and that those who buy phony degrees are not victims. It is not a crime to buy a phony degree, but it can be to use one fraudulently to obtain a job, a pay increase or other benefit.
"I think this is a real wake-up call to people who think diploma mills are a small problem," said Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and an expert on the issue. "Diploma mills are a huge problem. They are an international problem. It doesn't matter where they are operating from."
Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the District-based American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said it will take time for officials and watchdog agencies to review the list and identify who is on it and what jobs they might have obtained with the use of a phony degree.
"It's one of those crimes that is low on the priority list because people think, 'Who cares?' " Nassirian said. "I think once we fully absorb this list, we will find some pretty compelling reasons why we should care. . . . My guess is we are going to find some really scary stories."
Homeland Security officials had refused to release the list but provided it to state attorneys general last weekend. Education officials in Virginia, Maryland and the District said yesterday they had not seen the list.
The case was investigated by a task force involving more than a half-dozen federal agencies, including the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington state. Court documents show that investigators served search warrants in the case after it was discovered that many of the phony degrees were purchased by people in Saudi Arabia.
In addition to Virginia, 11 states, including Texas, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington and Nevada, forbid fraudulent use of phony degrees, Contreras said.
"People who buy diplomas from diploma mills are not victims; they are co-conspirators," Nassirian said. "People who fall prey to shoddy trade schools, they are victims. They think they are going to a real school, and they get ripped off. But people who pick up the phone and call and order themselves a master's degree in nursing know they are not nurses."
Post database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.
Medical professionals with fake degrees?,
Adam Wilson,
Tacoma, Washington
News Tribune,
August 1, 2008.
The state Department of Health is checking the records of hundreds of thousands of state-licensed medical professionals to make sure they didn't receive diplomas from a defunct Spokane outfit that handed out fake degrees.
The Department of Health, which licenses 300,000 medical professionals, has been given a database of information on the nearly 10,000 people known to have bought the diplomas, Donn Moyer of the department said this week.
One state employee's name is in the database, but that person isn't a medical professional, Moyer said. If medical professionals are found to have purchased degrees, they wouldn't necessarily lose their licenses.
"We still have to have evidence that you're not fit to practice," Moyer said.
The state worker who bought a degree didn't use it to get his job or a promotion, according to the Department of Social and Health Services.
"If somebody did have one of those degrees in their personnel file, and they didn't use that degree to misrepresent themselves ... then we wouldn't take any action," said agency spokeswoman Kathy Spears.
Checking a list of 9,600 names of diploma-mill customers against the names of more than 100,000 state and public workers, The Olympian found 94 matches.
But the worker list and the degree buyers appeared to be different people who share the same names.
Government prosecutors have a more-detailed database of information on customers of the diploma mill, but they declined to make it public.
The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane posted the list of customers' names this week without disclosing how the newspaper obtained the list. The paper found 191 customers who worked in government, including more than 130 in the military, by checking e-mail addresses discovered by prosecutors.
Dixie Ellen Randock, a high school dropout who headed the diploma-mill operation, was sentenced last month to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
CPS instructor, Berwyn cops turn up on list of possible bogus degree recipients,
Russell Working and Jodi S. Cohen,
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Tribune,
August 5, 2008.
A federal list of suspected buyers of bogus degrees from a Washington state criminal diploma scheme includes a Chicago Public Schools instructor and five current or former Berwyn police officersat least one of whom allegedly sought city reimbursement for his bogus PhD in criminal justice, the Tribune has learned.
While it is not illegal to buy a phony degree, Illinois law forbids claiming false academic credentials for professional advancement or higher compensation.
The Junior ROTC instructor for CPS, now on leave for an unrelated matter, received a raise from the school district in 2003 based on a PhD and master's degree allegedly bought from diploma mills affiliated with the fictional "St. Regis University." The police officers received their degrees from the same scheme in 2001-02, and at least some of them allegedly benefited financially, according to a city official.
Because the CPS instructor and Berwyn officers have not been charged with crimes, the Tribune is not naming them.
The names of the instructor and police officersamong them a former high-ranking administrator and a former sergeantappeared on a list of 9,600 possible buyers of bogus degrees compiled from computers seized as part of Operation Gold Seal, a federal case that led to guilty pleas by eight conspirators who sold fake degrees from St. Regis and other fictional colleges with buyers from as far away as China and Papua New Guinea.
While CPS military instructors do not need to have college degrees, theylike Berwyn police officersreceive higher salaries if they have advanced degrees.
CPS spokesman Michael Vaughn said the school district plans a probe. "We will now investigate the authenticity of that degree," he said. "He is paid at a level that equates to people with a master's degree in that position."
The instructor's salary was $76,000 a year before he went on unpaid leave in March 2007, Vaughn said.
Officials in Berwyn have been aware of the degree claims since federal officials phoned them in 2005 regarding the Spokane investigation.
Operation Gold Seal is creating shock waves nationwide, from small-town City Halls to federal bureaucracies, as officials learn about claims to specious degrees. The federal government has not released the list to the public, but the Tribune obtained a copy from a state agency.
Buyers of degrees from the scheme, operated by Dixie and Steven Randock Sr. and their employees, did little or no academic work, said Thomas Rice, an assistant U.S. attorney in Spokane, Wash., who helped prosecute the case.
Prices for the fake degrees ranged from several hundred dollars to more than $2,000 for a PhD.
The investigation included a number of bizarre twists. The operators of the degree mill, seeking to place themselves outside U.S. jurisdiction, have pleaded guilty to bribing Liberian officials in order to gain accreditation from that country. Liberian officials did not respond to requests for comment.
While investigators focused on nailing the operators of the scheme, the buyersdeemed "suspects" by the U.S. attorney's officeincluded hundreds of local, state and federal employees. The federal government left it up to local jurisdictions to determine whether a crime had been committed and whether to pursue charges, Rice said.
"You can buy a phony degree," Rice said.
"That's not a crime. . . . It's the use of it that's a crime, and the use is generally a false statement to an employer."
Berwyn officials said the two officers still with the department did not use the fake degrees for pay increases or promotions, but some of the now-retired officers did.
"I know some of them did receive extra compensation and extra stipend in their pay," Berwyn Mayor Michael O'Connor said Monday. "I don't think any of them used them for promotions. . . . The contract allowed for an increased stipend if you had a bachelor's degree, an increased stipend if you had a master's degree."
None of the police officers was disciplined because they agreed to drop their claims to the degrees, because the fake degrees were bought under a previous mayoral administration and because O'Connor said the city was seeking to put years of political acrimony behind it.
"I'm very confident now that all of this diploma mill stuff is over and done with," said Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner, who was hired in 2006.
A retired division commander officer even submitted to the city a $1,900 tuition reimbursement request for his allegedly fake PhD in criminal justice. His supervisor, who also allegedly had a fake degree, approved the expense, said Pat Segel, director of human resources.
None of the police officers whose names appeared on the list would comment or could be reached for comment.
Tribune reporters James Kimberly and Darnell Little and researcher Lelia Arnheim contributed to this report. Freelance reporter Joseph Ruzich also contributed.
Bellingham engineering contractor may have phony degree,
Sam Taylor,
Bellingham, Washington,
The Bellingham Herald,
August 6, 2008.
City officials have put an on-call engineering contract with a local firm on hold after The Bellingham Herald disclosed that the company's vice president may not have legitimate credentials.
The vice president of Apollo Geophysics, Matthew C. Ringstad, appears to be on a list of people who purchased fake degrees from a diploma mill based out of Spokane. The list of more than 9,800 buyers was made public by the Spokane Spokesman-Review, though the U.S. Department of Justice had previously refused to give it up. A trusted source leaked the list to the Spokesman-Review, said Jim Camden, one of the reporters who worked on the story.
"The list is as accurate as the federal government made it," Camden said when asked how confident he was of the list's veracity. "It's a federal government-compiled database as a result of their investigation (into the mill)."
A Matthew C. Ringstad purchased a bachelor of arts degree, according to the diploma mill list, though no other detail is given.
Matthew Ringstad did not return a phone message left at the Apollo Geophysics office Tuesday, Aug. 5, nor did he or Lynn Ringstad - his wife and company owner and president - return an e-mail from a reporter left the same day. A receptionist at the Apollo office, 314 E. Holly St., Suite 207, said both were not in the office Wednesday, Aug. 6. A reporter got the same response when visiting the office Wednesday.
However, last week Matthew Ringstad told The News Tribune in Tacoma that he wasn't aware of the diploma mill list and pointed out that there are many people with the same name.
But Matthew Ringstad used an e-mail address with the apollogeophysics.com domain in communications with the diploma mill, Camden confirmed.
Apollo Geophysics provides applied geological and geophysical exploration, nondestructive testing, environmental services and equipment rental, according to the company's Web site.
Bellingham's purchasing superintendent, Joan Cady, said that there are no receipts on file to show that the company has actually done any work for the city yet.
However, Ringstad lists in his experience in a request for qualifications document to the city that he performed "geophysical investigation, seismic refraction" and ground penetrating radar work during 2005 renovations to The Federal Building in downtown Bellingham. He was paid $2,500, according to the document. Cady said she believes he worked as a subcontractor under another firm which actually did the work, so the city doesn't have a record of his work.
"Apollo isn't doing any work for us now and won't be until this is resolved," said City Public Works Director Dick McKinley.
Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said that while the contract is on hold with the company, it's not yet canceled.
"For one thing, there's the principle of innocent until proven guilty," Pike said. "Does he have other certification that legitimizes his qualifications from a credentialed school? Was there any fraud involved?
"There's a number of questions that I can't answer right now," the mayor said. "Obviously the integrity of our consultants is important to us, just as is the integrity of our employees."
A Clyde A. Ringstad also shows up on the list as having purchased a fake Ph.D. Clyde A. Ringstad also worked at one time for Apollo Geophysics, and gave a presentation to the state Department of Transportation on vibration monitoring for structures in 2004. Matthew and Lynn Ringstad were also at that presentation, according to WSDOT documents.
Camden said Clyde Ringstad also used an Apollo Geophysics e-mail address to communicate with the diploma mill.
Clyde A. Ringstad was reached by phone Tuesday, Aug. 5, but seemed to have trouble hearing. He handed the phone to his wife, who said he had been mowing the lawn and would call back later. Ringstad never returned the phone call. An e-mail message sent to him seeking comment also was not returned.
Matthew Ringstad has offered up different versions of his educational background. He told The News Tribune that he earned a political science degree in California, but that he would "rather not say" what college it came from.
On the application to get the work with the city of Bellingham, Ringstad is listed as the company's senior geophysicist, and states that he has a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla. Ringstad only attended Whitman College for one year in 1990, he never picked a major and never graduated, according to a registration assistant in Whitman College's registrar's office.
The same application states that Ringstad did site response and seismic hazard assessment work for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at the Hanford nuclear site.
Ringstad is 36, according to voter registration records. His biography page at Apollo Geophysics' Web site states: "Matthew brings 20 years of experience in designing and implementing Geophysical Field exploration programs and developing state of the art data analysis programs and algorithms." On the application to the city, Ringstad states he has 23 years of experience, making him a young teen when he started.
Western Washington University confirmed that Lynn Ringstad earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in geology, as she listed on the application to the city of Bellingham. She is also a licensed geologist, which was confirmed using the state Department of Licensing's online database.
Apollo Geophysics is on the engineering rosters of several other municipalities, including the city of Vancouver, Wash., and King County. It has applied to do work in Portland, Ore., too, according to records on the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce's Web site. It's unclear if the company has actually done work for Vancouver, though Brian Carlson, the city's public works director, said he didn't think so. The company did work for King County during a 2004 bridge project, according to a report prepared for the King County Department of Transportation by another consultant.
Matthew Ringstad was the field manager on behalf of the company during that project.
The Names on the Dishonor Roll,
Andy Guess,
Washington DC,
Inside Higher Ed,
August 1, 2008.
News of the list spread quickly
Released this week by The Spokesman-Review, of Spokane, Wash., it contains almost 10,000 names of people believed to have purchased degrees from an illegal diploma mill that shut down in 2005. So when it became clear that dozens of the names could be traced to e-mail addresses that end in ."edu," the possibility that there could be instructors in academe who were hired under false pretenses a degree from an unaccredited, or worse, nonexistent institution left some administrators nervous that they would receive that dreaded phone call about a beloved professor...
Illinoisans got diploma mill 'degrees',
Amanda Erickson,
Washington Bureau,
Chicago Tribune,
July 31, 2008.
Busted.
That must be how the 142 Illinois residents who may have paid an Internet-based diploma mill for 'proof' they graduated from high school or college must feel...
Former Minnesota nuclear power plant employee outed as diploma-buying fraudster, Jonathan Kaminsky,
Minneapolis, MN
CityPages,
July 30, 2008.
Happily for us--but less so for our cheese-loving neighbors to the east--the man who reportedly bought bogus degrees in nuclear engineering and accounting has found a new job. At a Wisconsin nuclear power plant. In the control room.
Before we go any further, let us back up for a moment. In 2005, a federal grand jury in Washington state indicted eight people on charges of running a diploma mill and issuing thousands of fake degrees from colleges and universities both real and make-believe. All eight were eventually convicted, and last month the ringleader of the operation was sentenced to three years in prison.
Which left one big question unanswered: Who were their customers?
Frustratingly, the government refused to say. But yesterday, the Spokane Spokesman-Review published the complete list of names with an accompanying article highlighting some of the biggest eyebrow-raisers.
Included among the nearly 10,000 fake diploma buyers are members of the National Security Agency, the CIA, and even NASA. Perhaps the most interesting name on the list, however, is that of Duwayne Huss. In the article, Huss is described as:
an employee of Nuclear Management Co., operator of two nuclear plants in Minnesota, [who] bought degrees in nuclear engineering and accounting.
"I can't give you information about our employees," company spokeswoman Mary [Sandok] said Monday when asked if Huss was still employed.
Nuclear Management Co. is contracted by Xcel Energy to run its two nuclear power plants, Monticello and Prairie Island. This morning, Xcel spokesman Tom Hoen told City Pages that Huss hasn't worked for Nuclear Management Co. for more than three years--since right around the time the feds were sinking their teeth into the diploma mill.
Hoen wouldn't say what Huss's job was at Nuclear Management Co., nor would he say whether Huss quit or was fired. All of which strikes us as pretty dumb. If he was a pencil pusher who was fired when his fraud was uncovered, then good. If he was in charge of making sure the place didn't melt down and left of his own volition, well, that's embarrassing and scary and, if true, will in all likelihood come to light in due time.
But there's more:
After parting ways with Nuclear Management Co., Huss secured employment at the Kewaunee Power Station in eastern Wisconsin. A call to the nuclear plant confirms that Huss is currently employed in its control room, although the receptionist declined to say in what capacity.
The nuclear power plant is owned by Dominion, which describes itself on its website as "one of the nation's largest producers of energy."
We've got calls out to the big cheeses of the company to ask if they're aware that a control room worker at one of their nuclear plants seems to have a make-believe degree in nuclear engineering. We'll let you know what they say when we hear back.
Also, messages left for Huss at what appears to be his home phone number were not returned.
UPDATE: Xcel has released more information about Huss's stint at Nuclear Management Co. Here's the email that Tom Hoen, Xcel's spokesman, just sent our way:
"Mr. Huss has not worked for Nuclear Management Co for three years. He never worked for Xcel Energy, nor did he ever have access to or work at Xcel Energy's Prairie Island or Monticello nuclear plants."
Newspaper publishes list of alleged buyers of phony college degrees
,
Doug Stanglin,
USA Today,
July 30, 2008.
The Spokesman-Review of Spokane reports that hundreds of people working in the military, government and education are on a list of almost 10,000 people who spent $7.3 million buying phony and counterfeit high school and college degrees from a Spokane diploma mill.
The newspaper also publishes what it calls a complete list of the names of many who allegedly bought the phony degrees. The Spokesman-Review says it obtained the list after the U.S. Department of Justice refused to release it to the public. The list includes employees from a number of government institutions, including the CIA, the National Security Agency and NASA. The newspaper says a senior military adviser working in the White House is also on the list.
Investigators, who uncovered the diplomat mill in 2005, are forwarding the list to all 50 state attorneys general and other agencies, the newspaper says.
The Associated Press reports that, according to court documents, the on-line diploma mill sold counterfeit copies of degrees and transcripts from legitimate universities as well as from phony institutions.
The AP says that the ringleader of the operation was sentenced this month to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Ohioans Listed In Nationwide Diploma Mill: Nearly 10,000 people across the [golbe] are listed as buying or trying to buy counterfeit diplomas. ,
Nicole Franks,
Ohio
610 WTVN,
July 30, 2008.
Federal investigators are looking into a list of nearly 10,000 names that are linked to buying or trying to buy fake diplomas from a Washington State ring.
The list contains the names of nearly 130 Ohioans, including Bart G. Anderson, executive director and superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Franklin County.
Anderson received a bogus doctorate in 2002. He tells 610 WTVN's Nicole Franks that he knew something was wrong when he applied to the online program.
"I applied to that institution," he said. "Soon after making my application fee, receiving the packet of materials, paying my first installment I was starting to realize something was suspicious. I realized soon enough that this institution was one that falsified their credentials."
Anderson says he went on to obtain his doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006.
He says he has never referred to the St. Regis diploma on any job applications.
The Spokesman-Review reports the eight people who ran the diploma mill were indicted and convicted of federal crimes. The story also says state agencies in all 50 states will be sent the list of names...
14 Kenyans probed over fake US degrees,
Samuel Otieno,
Nairobi, Kenya
The Standard,
July 31, 2008.
Fourteen Kenyans are among 10,000 people being investigated by security agencies in the US for buying fake degree certificates with which they have acquired key jobs, including in the military.
The Kenyans under investigation, alongside other foreigners, are now staring at long jail terms if found guilty, deportation or humiliation among peers and family when they return home. In total, the suspects being investigated spent a staggering Sh500 million ($7.3m) to acquire the fake documents.
The Kenyans under investigations are Amunga Justus Mully, who bought an MBA, Aseno George Onyango (BA), Gitau Patrick W (BA), Kirusara Mwandi Patrick (BA), a Mohammed (BA) and Muriithi Andrew Njeru (BA).
Others are Oluchiri George (DBA), Omollo Joseph Odindo (BBA), Omukaba Martin (BS), Omukuenyi Hassan Nathan (BS), Omuluba Martin (BS), Ongunya Vitalis Omanyo (BBA), Oyer Omoro William (BBA) and Wachira Jenard Leo (MBA).
The revelations put the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) on high alert and it told employers to be on the lookout over the influx of foreign degree certificates.
Thousands of other Kenyans holding fake degrees have since joined plum jobs back home where they are unfairly edging out competent, locally trained employees.
The certificates, acquired from what are popularly referred to as diploma mills' in the US, have since landed the fake degree holders on lucrative jobs in America and other postings abroad.
Others have been propelled to promotions in their respective places of work.
Senior Kenyans involved
When The Standard contacted the Kenyan Embassy in Washington DC, the deputy Head of Mission, Mr Galma Boru, could not comment on the saga, saying the ambassador, Mr Oginga Ogego, who was the only one who could speak on the matter, was in a meeting.
The most shocking revelation of the scandalous intellectual fraud is that some senior Kenyans, including politicians, have been decorated with fake papers where some are being referred as doctors' and professors'.
The 14 Kenyans under investigation, some holding what are supposed to be respected Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree certificates, are among hundreds of people working in the US military, government and education sector.
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said the Government was not aware of the matter, but had launched investigation to establish the details of the scandal.
At the same time, Education ministry's Director of Quality Assurance and Standards Enos Oyaya declined to comment over the matter.
"I do not comment on issues over the telephone because I must refer to the policies and I am outside the office now," Oyaya said when reached on the telephone.
However, the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) said it only equates diploma and certificates offered by other examination boards outside the country.
"The certificates and diplomas must be from an accredited examination body authorised by the law," said Knec Chief Executive Officer Paul Wasanga.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the suspects are being investigated for buying counterfeit degrees from colleges and universities or bogus degrees from non-existent online high schools, colleges and universities.
Normally, the US Homeland Security does not release information on cases it is investigating. It is now considering pursuing charges against about 300 US federal employees who bought bogus or counterfeit degrees.
Investigators are considering using a federal law that allows them to charge individuals who fraudulently obtain credentials giving them access to jobs in US government facilities.
An official at the US Embassy in Nairobi said they had not been notified over the investigation and referred The Standard to the Kenyan embassy in Washington and the Department of Homeland Security in the US.
"Anything like that is usually handled by the Homeland Security and we would have no idea if it is not released to us," said Mr T J Dowling, counsellor for public affairs at the embassy.
But reached in Seattle on Monday by a US Internet newspaper, Spokseman Review, Homeland Security Spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said: "We are aware of this issue, and we will take the appropriate action. But because it's an ongoing investigation, I cannot discuss the specifics with you at this time."
The revelations raise concern over the number of people who process such certificates and use them to acquire jobs in Kenya and abroad.
Ms Eliza Chege, an assistant secretary with the Commission for Higher Education, said: "Employers have become cautious of the new trend of seeking higher education in foreign institutions. That is why they must come and verify with us."
Chege said the Teachers Service Commission was their regular customer since many teachers had resorted to further studies to earn promotions and higher perks.
She said the commission examines the content of training programmes Kenyans obtain abroad.
This, she said, was to equate the content and achievement levels with those in the local university system.
"To this effect, the commission has guidelines for standardisation, equation and recognition of degrees and diplomas," said Chege.
The complete list of buyers, which the US Department of Justice has refused to release to the public, was obtained and published by The Spokesman-Review.
"There are people in high places with these degrees, and only one of them has been charged with a crime," a source familiar with the list told the Spokesman-Review, an online paper celebrating its 12 anniversary this year.
A preliminary analysis of the list by the paper shows 135 individuals with ties to the military, 39 to educational institutions and 17 employed by government agencies.
The numbers were derived from e-mail addresses that are part of the list obtained by the newspaper.
However, the exact number of people with ties to the military, government and education is believed to be far greater because many buyers used personal e-mail accounts.
Eight people who set up and operated the Diploma Mill, including ringleader Dixie Ellen Randock, were indicted and convicted of federal crimes.
The conmen sold thousands of counterfeit degrees and transcripts from legitimate colleges, and phony degrees and transcripts from non-existent online universities and schools.
Exposed: 36 in S'pore [Singapore] named for buying fake degrees and diplomas ,
Sandra Davie,
Singapore,
Straits Times,
August 11, 2008.
RETIRED secondary school teacher, two private school teachers, an IT manager, and two businessmen were among 36 names from Singapore on a list of people exposed in the United States for buying fake diplomas and degrees.
The 9,612 names were taken from computers seized as part of Operation Gold Seal, a US Federal case that led to eight people pleading guilty to conspiracy to sell fake degrees from St Regis University and other fictional colleges based in rural Washington state.
The husband and wife ringleaders, Steven and Dixie Ellen Randock, have been sentenced to three years in prison.
The Washington-based newspaper, The Spokesman Review, ran the full list of names on its website on July 28. Buyers had paid the degree mill US$250 to US$5,400 (S$350 to S$7,500) for bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as doctorates...
The Straits Times contacted more than a dozen of those on the list and confirmed that six had bought the degrees. Four of the six had listed the degrees in their resumes.
Two admitted they had degrees from the listed universities but claimed they were unaware that these were degree mills.
The Education Ministry said it will investigate the case of the teacher to establish if any offence has been committed. But it said preliminary checks show that the teacher, who was recruited as a non-graduate teacher, had not used the 'degree' in question for placement.
MOE said the teacher is currently re-employed as a non-graduate contract adjunct teacher.
Businessman David Tan Leng Huat said he had merely enquired about a degree from St Regis University but had not paid anything.
Private school teacher David Nelson Samuel said he paid more than S$4,000 for a BA from St Regis University, but only found out later that it was unrecognised.
A Mr Joseph Ferguson was listed as a trainer at the Asian Life Skills Centre at North Bridge Road which runs courses for English Language teachers. His credentials include a BA (Business) and MA (Education) from St Lourdes University, one of the exposed degree mills.
But the centre's managing director Joseph Chee said the American had left the centre last year and expressed surprise at his fake credentials.
Dr Tan Tee Khoon, a Christian author and head of Knight Frank Property Network, said he is not the Tan Tee Khoon named for having bought a Master's in Divinity.
Dr Tan, who has a PhD in marketing from Templeton University, New York, said he was 'aggrieved' when he heard someone with his name was on the list.
AG's Office Investigating Diploma Mill,
Gant Daily,
Clearfield, Pennsylvania,
August 14, 2008.
HARRISBURG Attorney General Tom Corbett announced Thursday that the Office of Attorney General is currently reviewing information related to more than 135 Pennsylvania residents recently identified as part of a federal investigation into an Internet scheme to sell thousands of bogus high school and university degrees.
"Using falsified credentials to obtain state certification for various jobs jeopardizes the health and safety of Pennsylvania residents," Corbett said. "The Office of Attorney General will work with other state agencies to determine if any of the individuals named in this investigation have used fraudulent degrees improperly."
Corbett noted that the federal investigation focused on a degree-selling business based in Spokane, Washington, often known as Saint Regis University. As part of that investigation, federal prosecutors developed information about more than 9,000 "students" who may have purchased degrees from Saint Regis University or other fictitious institutions.
"At least 135 people used Pennsylvania addresses to obtain their degrees from Saint Regis University or other fictitious schools," Corbett said. "We are reviewing information about those degree purchases and will contact other state agencies if it appears that questionable degrees have been used inappropriately."
Corbett said the list of university degrees allegedly purchased by Pennsylvania residents as part of this scheme include Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Guidance & Counseling, Psychology, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement, Addiction Therapy & Treatment, Occupational Health & Safety, Medical Technology, Electrical Engineering and numerous other professions. The degrees include high school diplomas, college bachelors and masters degrees, along with several doctorate degrees.
Corbett explained that the Attorney General's Office has a history of aggressively investigating degree falsification cases, including the closure of an Erie-based "diploma mill," know as the "University of Berkley" in 2005, along with the criminal prosecution of individuals accused of falsifying official state certifications.
"Fraudulent degrees destroy the credibility of educational institutions that offer Pennsylvanians legitimate classroom or online instruction to help improve their knowledge and skills," Corbett said. "Bogus diploma mills' also enable unscrupulous individuals to use these degrees to misrepresent their educational background, enhance their credibility and falsely enhance their employment or promotion opportunities."
10 NZers buy fake online degrees,
Lincoln Tan and Martha McKenzie-Minifie,
Auckland, New Zealand,
The New Zealand Herald,
August 16, 2008.
A New Zealand primary school principal, his human resources director brother and a security guard are among 10 New Zealand names on a list of buyers of bogus United States university degrees.
The names were among 9612 found on computers seized as part of Operation Gold Seal, a US Federal case, which led to eight people pleading guilty to operating the scam.
Prices for the bogus degrees ranged from a few hundred dollars for bachelor's and master's to US$5400 ($7,770) for a PhD.
One of the buyers, Mark Barratt, principal of Papatoetoe South School and chair of Auckland Primary Principals Committee on Special Education, said he bought the fake PhD "just for the fun of it", after his brother Shaun, a director at human resources company Salt, bought a bachelor's degree.
"We were just being stupid _ there was never an intention to use them to mislead or defraud," said Mr Barratt, who is also a member of the Auckland District Committee of New Zealand Education.
"I've never used it or claimed to have a doctorate, and the doctorate's sitting in a box at home, somewhere."
Although checks by the Weekend Herald found that Mr Barratt did not list his PhD when applying for his job, the Parent and Family Resource Centre website, of which he is a member, had said "his doctorate explores conflict between governance and management within the NZ primary schooling sector", and that "he is currently completing a second doctorate looking at models of governance."
But following Weekend Herald enquiries, the copy on the website was replaced with: "Mark is currently researching two thesis that will form the basis of a doctorate."
Mr Barratt said he holds master's degrees in Religious Education and Education, but denied that he had ever claimed he had a PhD. He said the copy on the website was changed because he "wanted to get rid of any ambiguity around it."
Papatoetoe South School board of trustees chairman Adrian West confirmed Mr Barratt did not claim the phoney degree when he applied for the principal role last year.
For another buyer, security guard Jagath Nambukara, it was a different story. Mr Nambukara, who spent more than $5000 over two years to get his BBA degree from St Regis University, said he did not know it came from a degree mill.
"I cannot believe what I have now is just a piece of rubbish," he said.
"It is not just the money, but I also spent a lot of time studying and submitting the assignments the university sent me through emails."
By accessing the website and paying fees of between US$399 and US$2454, students could be "evaluated" for a degree _ which the US Justice Department has identified as being done by a high-school dropout named Heidi Kae Lorhan.
The "university" also supported buyers by providing other services, including telephone calls to confirm the degrees were valid.
Husband and wife ringleaders Steven and Dixie Ellen Randock have been sentenced to three years in prison and buyers of the fake degrees have been deemed as "suspects" by the US attorney's office, Mr Thomas Rice, criminal chief at the US Department of Justice told the Weekend Herald.
But Mr Rice said the US Government was leaving it to individual jurisdictions to determine whether a crime had been committed.
NZ Police spokesman Jon Neilson said it was not illegal to buy fake degrees online, but purchasers that used them could face fraud charges.
The 10 from New Zealand who bought fake degrees: Scott, Alan T _ BA; Reid, Donald Erik _ MEd; Ryan, Stephen John _ MBA; Morton, David John _ PhD; Nambukara, Jagath C _ BBA; Jie, Li Liang _ BS; Barratt, Mark Raymond _ PhD; Barratt, Shaun Francis _ BA; Beck, Andrew David Patrick _ PhD; Brickland, Daniel _ ProfFull
Fake-degree mill in US leads to Saudi inquest,
Fatima Sidiya,
Saudi Arabia
Arab News,
August 21, 2008.
JEDDAH: A long list of people who had purchased or attempted to purchase fake university diplomas in the United States has spurred the Saudi education authorities to launch an investigation into the issue of Saudis and expatriates who may be working in the Kingdom on counterfeit certificates.
However, Shoura Council member Abdullah Al-Tuwairqi called the reaction to the list "disappointing," and expressed concern that education officials would have a death-by-committee mentality in addressing the issue.
The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Washington state recently obtained and posted online a list of nearly 10,000 names of people who had spent $7.3 million on purchasing or attempting to purchase fake diplomas from an illegal operation. The US Department of Justice shut down the illegal enterprise and compiled a list of its clients. The list was then leaked to the newspaper, which posted it online at: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/data/diploma-mill/.
The list contains at least 70 Saudis, or persons who listed their country of residence as Saudi Arabia. For example, one of the names on the list is a Saudi woman who bought degrees in obstetrics and gynecology. The newspaper reported that US federal investigators do not know if the woman is currently working as a medical doctor in the Kingdom.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education Muhammad Al-Ouhali told Al-Watan newspaper that the ministry would investigate people on the list who may be working in Saudi Arabia on fake documents. He said that if the US Department of Justice's list were accurate then Saudi education officials would take necessary action.
Al-Tuwairqi lambasted newspapers for publishing advertisements from institutes promising college diplomas without background checks. He blames both the government and the media for promoting these illegitimate operations that churn out unqualified degree holders who then "unfairly" compete with people who worked hard for their academic achievements at real universities.
Abdullah Al-Qahtani, head of the Certificates Accreditation Department at the Ministry of Higher Education, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that his department had won an approval from higher authorities to form an investigative committee. The committee would include members from the Ministry of Higher Education, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Labor and would also receive assistance from the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology.
"The Ministry of Higher Education expresses its worries regarding the increasing number of agencies that lure students into nonexisting universities and obtaining unaccredited certificates," said Al-Qahtani, referring to the issue of local unaccredited institutions and degree mills.
Al-Qahtani also said the Ministry of Higher Education is now consulting the Ministry of Culture and Information to put a stop to the publication of advertisements from unaccredited institutions offering sketchy diplomas. He also called on newspapers and magazines to cooperate with the Ministry of Culture and Information to ensure the accuracy of information provided by universities that want to advertise their services.
According to Al-Watan, there are roughly 18 branches of unauthorized universities, with over 5,000 students in the Kingdom. Last year, 70 staff members at different girls' colleges around the Kingdom were fired for having fake diplomas.
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