WHO YOU GONNA CALL? The Justice Department, apparently! A US investigation dubbed Operation Ghostbusters is going after an alleged scheme that used stolen identities to enroll fake students in American colleges and pocket federal financial aid, linked to a loss of $130m in taxpayer funds, the BBC reported.
Investigators flagged 830,840 potentially fraudulent Federal Student Aid ID numbers tied to nearly $130m in September and October 2026 and recommended they be disabled. That’s aid tied to suspect accounts, not confirmed losses. So far there are five indictments involving Kenyan nationals, with 40 more investigations open.
The grift is ugly. Stolen personal details sometimes sold online for $4 to $8, often belonging to low-income Americans who never got to go to college. Prosecutors say fraudsters use what’s described as “super intelligence” to complete coursework and keep the ghosts enrolled “semester after semester after semester.” Victims can end up with student loan debt for classes they never took.
One case: Kenyan national Francis Mogambi, who came to the US on the Diversity Visa lottery in 2024, was indicted in Nebraska on 19 October on five counts of theft of government money and five of aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors allege he kept 30% and sent the rest to associates in Kenya. He hasn’t commented, and faces at least 10 years if convicted.
“If you steal taxpayers’ dollars, if you exploit a programme meant to help students, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M McDonald. US authorities have already seized more than $750,000 from a crypto account in Kenya in a related case.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.
Sources: BBC News
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