Ghost Students Have Stolen MILLIONS in Aid

A ghost student is somebody who exists only on paper, which makes him the most reliable applicant the Education Department has ever had. The Justice Department has charged five people for enrolling them to pull federal financial aid, with the cash bounced through money mules and a Kenyan safari company. The NY Post says about $750,000 has been seized, and three New Jersey defendants are accused of sending roughly $1.3 million to Kenya. Colin McDonald, the assistant attorney general for fraud, called it 'organized fraud at scale,' and I'd call it the same thing if somebody cleaned out the feed store's tab. Now applicants have to show ID before filling out the FAFSA. It took this long to ask a student to prove he's breathing, which tells you who was minding the store.

“This is organized fraud at scale.”Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for fraud, via NY Post