SALT LAKE CITY — Federal investigators are looking into several fraudulent applications for admission and financial aid — including requests for student COVID-19 relief funds — received by Salt Lake Community College.
The school collected the counterfeit applications through its January deadline for the spring 2022 semester, SLCC spokesperson Peta Owens-Liston confirmed.
Admissions staff notified the U.S. Department of Justice, which is now looking into the forgeries. The school would not say how many phony applications were submitted. But it appears they used real people’s stolen information to appear like actual Utah students applying to attend the college.
Owens-Liston said that admissions staff were able to recognize “some red flags” with the false applications and did not release any money. Because the investigation is ongoing, she declined to say what drew attention to the applications.
Read the entire story at the Salt Lake Tribune
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.
