A Nigerian-born naturalised United States citizen and former adjunct professor has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for orchestrating a five-year scheme to fraudulently obtain student financial aid.
Emmanuel Olugbaike Finnih, 43, of Richmond, Texas, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
According to the US Department of Justice in a statement on Friday, Finnih submitted more than 100 fraudulent financial aid applications using the identities of individuals posing as students at colleges and universities across Texas.
He pleaded guilty on March 20 to theft of government funds, fraud, unlawful use or transfer of identity documents and aggravated identity theft.
US District Judge Andrew Hanen handed down the sentence, following evidence that Finnih used false identities, transcripts, mailing addresses, bank accounts and other means to obtain financial aid.
The applications sought more than $1.3m in grants and loans, of which $921,189.08 was eventually disbursed, the Justice Department said.
Commenting on the case, US Attorney Aaron Reitz said the fraud had contributed to the financial burden associated with higher education.
“Higher education costs are already skyrocketing out of control, and it’s scammers like Finnih who make it worse, more expensive, and financially damaging for everyone.
“This fraudster will now suffer the consequences of his manipulative, deceitful, un-American crimes,” Reitz said.
Finnih, who was formerly an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University, used the personal information of other people to prepare, submit and sign financial aid applications and master promissory notes in their names.
He also controlled the email accounts, phone numbers and mailing addresses used to receive communications from the Department of Education and the schools.
The fraudulently obtained funds were received through electronic transfers, cheques and prepaid debit cards sent to addresses or bank accounts controlled by Finnih.
The Justice Department said some victims were left with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt placed in their names, affecting their credit and ability to enrol in legitimate educational programmes.
As part of his guilty plea, Finnih admitted repeatedly using the personal information of two victims over several years to obtain federal financial aid fraudulently.
Investigators also found false identity documents, including temporary driving permits and identification cards, which authorities said he intended to unlawfully use or transfer.
The court heard that Finnih sometimes altered the names of female “straw students” to male versions while retaining their correct Social Security numbers and dates of birth, making it easier for him to impersonate them.
In one instance, he allegedly called a community college to try to have financial aid payments unfrozen after the institution flagged fraudulent transcripts linked to one of the identities.
The investigation was conducted by the US Department of Education Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Lone Star College Police Department, US Marshals Service and US Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant US Attorney Brad R. Gray prosecuted the case.
Finnih was allowed to remain on bond and is expected to surrender voluntarily to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated.
