Just wondering who could be legally affected if there are criminal charges...any ideas?
18 replies (most recent on top)
I think the strategy to charge for criminal activities is to set a precedent for other schools so they are more conscientious of how they operate.
Interesting, this post got the most hits
We are all going to prison. They told us but we did. At least orange is the new black.
Anonymous28849- Time will tell.
842, yup. Sure did. I still think nada will happen. And even if there are criminal charges, students have debt they can never repay and 12,000 people lose their jobs. It won't right any wrongs. There is no justice.
Anonymous28843- Federal Grand Juries can only suggest there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges. Civil penalties are not possible by a Federal Grand Jury.
Oh, yea, the person directing the fraud has nothing to do with it!
In terms of who will get charged it depends on the official charges. For example obstruction of justice. In the case of CCI it will be those who can be singled out as falsifying student grades and or placements. Remember the computer systems at CCI are sophisticated in that log-ono credentials are assigned to specific names users. I am sure the C-Level executives (CIO, CFO, COO and some SVP/VP/AVP) are smart enough not to log on to those systems and rather pressure the message downward which will not leave an audit trail. The corporate line is “I had no idea those campus presidents and/or admissions individuals were falsifying records – at corporate we rely on the integrity of our people blab la bla”. This way the blame is deflected from them. It really is that simple………..
Most likely it will be settled by a large fine. Many millions! It will be taken with the sale of the company along with other fines from other states. Don't forget CCi also has to have at least 30 million dollars to cover tuition and financial aid refund from the operating agreement with DOE. So the bottom line is lay offs, RIF's, no severance and large pay cuts on exempt/non exempt employees.
Anonymous28841- Did you read the June 12 letter?
I think it's all just a ploy. No charges will be filed. If they were so concerned about what CCI is doing, why have they been able to practice the exact same business model for years and years, despite complaints from students and employees? I just have no faith that anyone will pay for any criminal activity.
I agree that it will be upper management - AVPs and above. We have a lot of whistleblowers (and probably more contacting the feds every day). We know who was engaged in fraudulent behavior and who wasn't. They are hearing clear and consistent info from peeps placed throughout the company (yes, that includes the 4th floor). They didn't even cover their tracks very well. The CCi way of being sneaky is to have a gainful employment call, invite 20 random people to be on it, and then say "none of this can ever be in writing - it is ONLY to be discussed on calls!" Um, that doesn't actually help your case...
24 and 23, I respectfully disagree. The DOJ brings this a much higher level. They go after people with the words "chief executive...' and 'executive VP...' in their job titles. As stated in the article i posted, "In most other cases of executive white-collar crime, however, CEOs are not stealing directly from their companies. Instead, they are trying to ensure the safety of their jobs by promoting the appearance of success of their companies through fraud, false accounting and bribery, among others..." The DOJ has suspicions that CCi did this to the tune of over a billion dollars a year - keeping the flow of Title IV by falsifying data.
Sadly, it'll be lower level management who take the fall.
I bet they all get off. They're rich and have friends in high places.
Ask any of the guys mentioned in this article: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2012/05/17/top-ten-ceos-sent-to-prison/
Who ever has the biggest amount of money from financial AID.
Anyone wanna bet now that he is gone Mr. Big gets immunity and testifies even though he was biggest culprit and criminal? Wouldn't that be ironic after all that evil bastard did (theft, raping, drunken lasciviousness, etc...)