By Michelle Vecerina

Federal authorities have charged 12 more defendants in “Operation Nightingale,” a sweeping investigation into a massive Florida-based fraud ring that sold approximately 7,300 fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to aspiring healthcare workers, the U.S. attorney’s office announced.

The scheme allowed people to bypass the clinical and academic training required for nursing licensure, which allowed them to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX, and become employed as nurses at unwitting healthcare facilities across the country.

The case comes as Florida, home to a large and growing elderly population, faces persistent nursing shortages and increased demand for qualified health care workers.

“The charges highlight the purpose of a professional nursing licensure: protecting the public from harm by ensuring that only qualified and competent practitioners provide nursing care,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement.

According to court records, the defendants, including nursing school owners, administrators, and recruiters, conspired to sell bogus credentials from for-profit nursing schools in Florida that have since been closed.

These fraudulent documents falsely represented that candidates had completed necessary coursework and the 50% hands-on clinical training required by Florida law. Once candidates used the fake transcripts to pass the national board exam, they became eligible for licensure in multiple states under the Nurse Licensure Compact, which allows nurses to practice in 43 states.

The latest phase of the investigation follows a successful first phase in 2023, which saw 30 defendants convicted. New developments in the case include:

- Herline Lochard, 46: The manager of Center for Professional Training and Development in Miami and Wheatland Institute in Orlando was sentenced to 13 months in prison on July 31 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

- Patrick Buchanan, 40: The owner of Sigma Institute of Health Careers in Lauderhill pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 19.

- Carleen Noreus, 51: The president of Carleen Home Health School faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege her schools recruited individuals and distributed false diplomas between 2019 and 2022. She is set for trial on Dec. 1.

Nine other individuals, including owners and admissions directors from schools such as Techni-Pro Institute, Agape Academy of Sciences, and Med-Life Institute, are facing indictments or informations for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Authorities emphasized that the scheme posed a “serious risk to public health and safety” by placing unprepared individuals in clinical settings. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continue to investigate the fallout of the fake degrees.

The defendants charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud face a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

Federal officials are urging anyone with information regarding falsified medical degrees to contact the FBI hotline at (410) 277-6999.