A 41-year-old female nursing instructor from New Jersey was arrested this past week after she was accused of defrauding a handful of students in the certification course that she led in King of Prussia in Pennsylvania. The fraud investigation began after several students complained that they had paid for an accelerated nursing certification class, they say was phony.
The New Jersey woman offered a certification class that students could complete in only eight months, at least four months shorter than the typical RN certification process. The advertisement stated that the course would cost $10,000 up front and would be offered Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
According to the students, they had worked hard and attended every class, but approximately two months after the class had begun, they received an e-mail from their professor. The e-mail told the students that their poor attendance and inability to keep up with testing procedures had forced her to terminate their participation in the class. The students were given the option to sign a recommitment letter to the program and they would be admitted into the next available class.
The students claim that the accusations in the letter were false, that they studied hard and attended class. They reported that two other women who helped teach at the Valley Forge Towers location quit after they did not receive compensation.
Authorities arrested the young woman in Willingboro, New Jersey. She was charged with corrupt organizations, deceptive or fraudulent business practices, bad checks and other theft charges.
Source: The Times Herald, “New Jersey woman allegedly bilked Upper Merion nursing students,” Keith Phucas, September 26, 2011