Certificate forgery: 18 Nigerian nurses to face prosecution in US

OVER 18 Nigerians in the nursing profession are currently facing charges in Texas, United States (US) following allegations of fake educational qualifications.

  This was revealed in  a statement published on the website of the Texas board of nursing.

  According to the  statement, a total of 23 practising nurses were caught in a grand fraudulent diploma/transcript scheme as revealed by an ongoing investigations.

  The investigations tagged ‘Operation Nightingale,’ was described as a multi-state coordinated law enforcement action involving the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General was launched on January 25, 2023, to arrest individuals engaged in a scheme to sell false and fraudulent nursing degree diplomas and transcripts.

  The Texas Board of Nursing further explained that the individuals involved in the scheme procured fraudulent nursing credentials which they used to sit for the national nursing board exam.

  The statement reads in part: “The board has filed formal charges against the following nurses for fraudulently obtaining educational credentials.

  “The board is authorised to file formal charges against a nurse if probable cause exists that the nurse has committed an act listed in Tex. Occ. Code §301.452 (b) or that violates other law. See Tex. Occ. Code §301.458. Further, formal charges are publicly available. See Tex. Occ. Code §301.466(b).

  “Please note that formal charges are not a final disciplinary action, and a nurse is permitted to work, as a nurse, while formal charges are pending.”