Key facts
- US authorities are investigating a nationwide scheme to defraud the federal student aid system.
- Francis Mogambi allegedly worked with associates in Kenya to steal identities and enroll fictitious students.
- The intended loss in Mogambi's case was $20,000.
- Stolen personal information was sometimes sold online for $4 to $8.
- Nearly a third of community college applicants in California in 2024 were identified as fraudulent.
- US officials seized over $750,000 from a cryptocurrency account linked to the scheme.
The US Department of Justice has launched Operation Ghostbusters to combat a large-scale student aid fraud scheme, with investigations revealing significant financial losses and identity theft. Kenyan national Francis Mogambi has been indicted on charges of theft of government money and aggravated identity theft, accused of working with associates in Kenya to enroll fictitious students and divert financial aid payments. The scheme allegedly involved stealing personally identifiable information, sometimes sold online for as little as $4, and using it to claim federal student aid. US authorities estimate that nearly a third of community college applicants in California in 2024 were fraudulent, and investigators identified hundreds of thousands of potentially fraudulent Federal Student Aid identification numbers associated with nearly $130 million.