Tens of thousands of prospective college students sent in money as part of a scholarship scam that fraudulently informed them they had won money for school, according to a federal indictment. Thousands sent checks to 10 programs operated by Christopher Nwaigwe, prosecutors say. In most cases, after the fee was paid, they never heard from Nwaigwe again, the Federal Trade Commission contends. More than 50,000 people sent checks, said Paul Trimbur, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Prosecutors say none of the money has been recovered.
Christopher Jones was one of the scholarship seekers who got fleeced. He got a letter in 1994 on stationery that looked official enough. She received an acknowledgement but never heard anything more. He violated a 1994 court order to stop the solicitations, court papers show. Nwaigwe apparently is the first person to be prosecuted as a result of the FTC's eight lawsuits nationwide that have sought to block the operation of suspect scholarship companies.