Some 2,600 of those individuals used fake diplomas to take the nursing board exam and passed, giving them access to work in health care facilities across the country. The diplomas were issued by Siena College in Broward County, the Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County — all of which are now closed. Though the scheme involved Florida schools, it affected multiple states.
“You don't just wake up one morning and find out that the Palm Beach School of Nursing [or Siena College and Sacred Heart International Institute] is issuing fake degrees. You don't see that publicized in an infomercial. You find out about it because you are told by a recruiter,” Porras said.for allegedly participating in a wire fraud scene that created the shortcuts for thousands to receive bogus nursing diplomas.
“We have heard accounts of additional individuals that have been sent to the Board of Nursing for investigation regarding concern with attendance at those [three South Florida] schools,” Christopher Otto, executive director of the Delaware Nursing Association, told Yahoo News. Brenda Hage, the director of nursing at Florida Gulf Coast University, which is about two hours away from the South Florida schools that were shut down, told Yahoo News that the scheme is offensive to real nurses.