A college hired strippers to dress provocatively and pose as admissions workers in order to lure more students, according to a lawsuit. FastTrain College in Miami, Florida, brought in a team of exotic dancers and encouraged them to wear revealing clothes while they recruited young men, the lawsuit said. The for-profit school has also been accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in federal money and coaching students to lie on financial forms.
FastTrain College in Miami brought in a team of exotic dancers and encouraged them to wear revealing clothes while they recruited young men, the lawsuit said. Former owner Alejandro Amor, 56, was criminally indicted in October and faces pending charges of conspiracy and theft of government money. The school promised a free education in recruiting some students to its inner-city campuses, authorities said in the civil complaint.
But some former students say they are still struggling with student loan debts, and the lawsuit identifies more than former students who are now in default. The U. Students who never graduated from high school received fake diplomas, the complaint charged, or were coached to lie about their status on financial aid applications.
To access taxpayer money, the school needed first-time students to attend class for at least 30 days. If they didn't, FastTrain falsified attendance records or backdated the enrollment so they could collect the money quicker, the lawsuit says. The growth of for-profit colleges, which are governed by private organisations or corporations, has been explosive in Florida and across the country.
As the schools have grown, numerous whistle-blower lawsuits have been filed against them by ex-employees. Some former FastTrain students say they are still struggling with student loan debts. Those who were attending around the time of the FBI raid can get their loans discharged under a 'closed school' provision. The school promised a free education in recruiting some students to its inner-city campuses, authorities said.
