DOJ Charges Five in ‘Operation Ghostbusters’ Scheme That Diverted Student Aid to Kenya

Federal prosecutors charged five people as the first results of Operation Ghostbusters, a nationwide investigation into large-scale fraud against the Federal Student Aid program. Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division said the department is charging the defendants and has seized more than $750,000 in cryptocurrency linked to the scheme through a network associated with Kenyan nationals. “This is the first international seizure of its kind in Kenya,” McDonald stated. “If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build a future — we will find you. Whether you are in Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, or Nairobi, we will pursue you.”

The scheme, under way since at least 2021, used stolen U.S. citizen identities to create fraudulent FAFSA accounts, enroll non-existent students, and divert loan and grant refunds. Investigators identified 830,840 potentially fraudulent Federal Student Aid identification numbers associated with nearly $130 million in the fall of 2026 alone and recommended that the Department of Education disable them. Overall losses are estimated well over $200 million.

Notable cases include a New Jersey criminal complaint alleging more than $1.5 million intended loss involving Mabed Patricia Utate-Alberto, Patricia Arisleydi Perez, and George Arturo Alfau Mendez, who allegedly conspired with persons in Kenya. In Nebraska, Francis Mogambi, a Kenyan national who entered the United States on a Diversity Visa, faces charges of theft of government money and aggravated identity theft for activity between November 2025 and May 2026; he allegedly kept 30 percent and sent the rest to associates in Kenya. A sealed indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia charges another Kenyan national in a scheme involving more than 700 fraudulent refund deposits totaling roughly $1.4 million, with more than $1.3 million transferred onward.

U.S. officials traveled to Kenya in September to work with local law enforcement on extraditions, prosecutions, and recovery. The investigation involves the FBI, Department of Education, Customs and Border Protection, and State Department. McDonald said the goal of the ghost-student approach was to keep the fictitious enrollee in school as long as possible so funds would continue to flow.