Scams – The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli

According to Massachusetts Attorney General:

For-profit educational giant ITT Technical Institute inflated its job-placement rates by counting “any job (graduates got) that somehow involved the use of a computer” and misled prospective students about the quality of its programs as part of its high-pressure recruitment tactics.

The state Attorney General’s Office filed suit against ITT Educational Services Inc., which runs ITT Tech schools, in Norfolk Superior Court. From at least 2010 to May 2013, the for-profit school aggressively enrolled students based on misleading information, according to the lawsuit.

ITT Tech has two schools in Massachusetts.

State Attorney General Maura Healey:

“These students were exploited and pressured to enroll with the promise of great careers and high salaries, but were instead left unable to repay their loans and support their families.”

According to the suit, ITT Tech admissions staff told potential students it had an 80 to 100 percent job placement rate when the actual rate was around 50 percent or less. To inflate their numbers, ITT Tech allegedly counted jobs that fell outside students’ field of study, including jobs selling computers at big box stores and a job providing customer service for an airline.

Further, ITT Tech placed heavy pressure on its representatives to bring new students to the schools. The Attorney General’s Office said recruiters were expected to call as many as 100 people per day “and were publicly shamed or fired if they failed to meet their quotas.”

The technical college’s also touted its Computer Network Systems program and hands-on training but provided students with outdated technology and absent teachers, the lawsuit alleged.

In a news release Monday, ITT Educational Services characterized the suit as a continuation of a “wide-ranging fishing expedition” on the part of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

“Some of the claims rest on a biased and selective portrayal of the facts,” the company said, adding that the Attorney General’s Office failed to explain how it calculated its estimates for job placement rates and calling such calculations “unreliable.”

The company said it has been under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office for three years and has been cooperating with investigators. It further characterized the lawsuit as proof of “Massachusetts’ woeful record of hostility toward career colleges that train non-traditional and underserved students.”

The suit is the latest in a long string of investigations into ITT Tech’s practices.

Fifteen former students sued the technical college in 1998, claiming they had been duped. The school settled its claims later that year.

In 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued ITT Educational Services Inc. for predatory student lending, saying the school pressured students into predatory loans, coerced them to continue taking classes by making their credits nontransferable to nonprofit institutions and mislead students on future job prospects. That same year, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office also filed suit.

In 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged ITT Education Services Inc., its chief executive officer Kevin Modany and its chief financial officer Daniel Fitzpatrick with fraud.

Attorneys general in at least 17 states and the District of Columbia have also opened probes into ITT Tech’s practices.

Over 40,000 students attend ITT Technical Institutes at more than 130 campuses in 38 states, according to to the company.

Source: AJC Atlanta

Check out another interesting post, “College or No College” on TheSocialMobLLC.com.

Via NY Times– A teenager in South Florida who was advertising his health care services had certifications in holistic healthcare. He had lab coats and a stethoscope. He even had a medical office.

What the 18-year-old Malachi A. Love-Robinson didn’t have, officials say, is a medical degree.

On Tuesday, Mr. Love-Robinson was accused of practicing medicine without a license after officials said he was caught performing a physical exam and offering medical advice to an undercover agent. The episode is the latest in a series of encounters with law enforcement dating back to early 2015 as Mr. Love-Robinson tried time and again to portray himself as a doctor.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Mr. Love-Robinson managed to open and operate his own office, called New Birth New Life Medical Center & Urgent Care, in a building populated by medical and dentistry offices in West Palm Beach, complete with a grand-opening celebration held in January.
In Florida, practicing medicine without a license is a third-degree felony. Mr. Love-Robinson was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Brad Dalton, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said in an interview that a tip from the public had led to the investigation and arrest of Mr. Love-Robinson. The tipster told the authorities that “a person who was portraying himself as a 25-year-old doctor was actually an 18-year-old,” Mr. Dalton said.

Reached by phone, Mr. Love-Robinson said Wednesday that he had been forced to close his office and called the charges against him “gut wrenching.”

I’m not trying to hurt people,” he said. “I’m just a young black guy who opened up a practice who is trying to do some good in the community. If that is a negative thing, we have a lot more work to do in the community than to single out me.”

He said that the undercover agent who posed as a patient came in complaining of an itchy throat. Mr. Love-Robinson took her weight, checked her breathing and checked her temperature, then recommended she visit a local pharmacy for allergy medication.

“There were no scripts given,no medical advice given.”

Mr. Love-Robinson said that he had received a Ph.D. in another field from a “private Christian university,” but he refused to name the institution or the field in which he received the degree.

He also said that he was certified to provide alternative health care.

That certificate was provided by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, a group for holistic health professionals including herbalists and other so-called drug-free practitioners. The organization approved Mr. Love-Robinson’s application after reviewing copies of degrees and diplomas sent by mail, according to the group’s director, Donald Rosenthal.

Mr. Rosenthal said that the credential, which has been issued to some 21,000 people, does not allow for people to diagnose or treat medical conditions.

“We tell them that all they can do is consult and educate,” Mr. Rosenthal said, adding that applicants must sign a disclosure saying they understand that the certification does not substitute for the skills of a medical doctor.

Pretty impressive for an 18 year old! Wondering if anyone helped him open his practice. It just seems too complex of a scam for an 18 year old to pull this off alone. What do you think?

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