Feds: Conn. Man Had Multi-Million Dollar Business Selling Fake College Degrees

Written by Gary Jeanfaivre

There are apparently $5 million worth of college degrees out there that have absolutely no value.

That's because they're fake. 

According to federal authorities, they were the work of a 48-year-old Connecticut man who made more than $700,000 off the international scheme.

The man, James Enowitch, of Cromwell, pleaded guilty May 8 to mail fraud and aiding and abetting mail fraud, in connection with the operation of a number of fraudulent diploma mills, according to United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.  

Here's how the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Eastern Pennsylvania describes the alleged scheme:

As early as 2003, Enowitch began operating a diploma mill, through which he advertised and sold diplomas for a fee, requiring no course work for those “diplomas.” 

Enowitch and his alleged co-schemer ultimately operated at least seven different websites, through which they sold fraudulent degrees in the name of Redding University, Suffield University Glendale University, Greenwood University, and Bryson University. Those purported universities were actually diploma mills in that they had no faculty, offered no academic curricula or services, required no course or class work, and were not recognized by the United States Department of Education.  

Part of the scheme to which Enowitch pleaded guilty was a fraudulent accrediting body, called the “National Distance Learning Accreditation Council” (“NDLAC”), used to claim, falsely, that the diploma mills were “nationally accredited.”  

Enowitch admitted that he and others created phony transcripts stating that the purchaser had taken courses that the purchaser had never taken; allowed purchasers to create their own transcripts and backdate degrees; and provided fraudulent verification services to back up the fake degrees, in case an employer or other party sought verification. 

The degree packages ranged in price from $475 to $550 for associates, bachelors, masters, and doctoral-level degrees, with a “multi-degree discount” for buying more than one. For an additional fee, purchasers could also allegedly select grades for the phony courses included in their transcripts.          

Between 2003 and 2012, Enowitch allegedly sold $5 million worth of fake degrees throughout the world. 

He now faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and an order of forfeiture.