South Florida nursing school owner pleads guilty after selling nearly 3,000 fake diplomas

[libertybele]

South Florida nursing school owner pleads guilty after selling nearly 3,000 fake diplomas

MIAMI — A South Florida nursing school owner has pleaded guilty mid-trial to federal charges for her role in a massive racketeering scheme that sold nearly 3,000 fraudulent diplomas and transcripts to aspiring healthcare workers nationwide, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, entered the guilty plea in Fort Lauderdale federal court following two weeks of trial testimony. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with each count carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

“Nursing licenses must be earned through education, training, and demonstrated competence, not purchased through fraud,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones said. “By selling thousands of fraudulent diplomas and transcripts, the defendant undermined the integrity of the nursing profession and our healthcare system.”

According to court records, Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health School, Inc., in Plantation, and as vice president of Carleen Home Health School II, Inc., in West Palm Beach.

Prosecutors proved at trial that between April 2018 and October 2025, Noreus conspired to manufacture and sell 2,956 falsified credentials. The documents falsely asserted that the buyers had completed the extensive academic coursework and hands-on clinical training required to graduate as a Registered Nurse, or RN, Licensed Practical Nurse, or LPN, or Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or BSN.

Instead, the fake documents served as an illegal backdoor to professional licensure. Armed with the fraudulent transcripts, buyers were permitted to sit for national nursing board examinations. Evidence showed that approximately 2,274 of those unqualified purchasers passed the exams, enabling them to secure employment at hospitals and healthcare facilities in Florida and across the country.............

https://flvoicenews.com/south-florida-nursing-school-owner-pleads-guilty-after-selling-nearly-3000-fake-diplomas/

[Hoodat]

All paid for by the US Treasury.  Thanks again to our Republican Congress who refuses to cut funding for this.

[mountaineer]

Curiously, most news sites seem to accompany the story with a photo of a generic nurse, not the perp.
This is she:

... A former South Florida nursing school operator pleaded guilty on Monday to running a diploma mill for thousands of nurses, abandoning her federal jury trial in Fort Lauderdale after two weeks of government evidence rather than letting a jury decide her fate.

Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, admitted to two conspiracy counts of wire fraud and money laundering, including collaborating with an associate to recruit about 2,750 students at her two schools and charge them $10,000–$20,000 for bogus diplomas and transcripts—including about 2,600 fake nursing degrees. The conduct occurred between 2018 and 2023 at two schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Prosecutors said the scheme generated roughly $25 million in revenue.

Noreus faces a long prison term at her sentencing on Sept. 10 before U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who allowed her to remain free on bond despite prosecutors' request that she be held at a federal detention center. The allegations against her had not been proven at trial; she ultimately accepted responsibility through her plea, and the remaining eight charges in her 10-count indictment will be dismissed. ...

https://nurse.org/news/nurse-fake-diploma-mill-guilty-plea/