Nurse Admits to Selling Nearly 3K Fake Diplomas

A Florida nurse has admitted she turned her name into a diploma mill. Federal prosecutors said 52-year-old Carleen Noreus pleaded guilty to selling nearly 3,000 bogus nursing diplomas and transcripts through two South Florida schools she controlled, both bearing her name, Fox News reports. The documents allowed buyers who hadn't completed required training to sit for national board exams, and about 2,300 went on to obtain licenses and work as nurses around the US, according to court records. A registered nurse since 2002, Noreus acknowledged that she was paid to fabricate and even backdate credentials for entry-level and bachelor's-level nurses, and that she worked with others in what authorities describe as a large, multiyear fraud.

"Nursing licenses must be earned … not purchased through fraud," US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said, arguing the scheme damaged trust in the profession and public safety. After a two-week trial in Fort Lauderdale, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said Thursday, Noreus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, per WTVJ. Carleen Home Health School in Plantation and Carleen Home Health School II in West Palm Beach have been shut down by the state.