📅 30 October 2026 • US Department of Justice • Operation Ghostbusters: DOJ charges 5 defendants, flags 830,840 ghost-student aid IDs worth $130M

On 29 October 2026 the U.S. Department of Justice announced the first indictments of Operation Ghostbusters, a nationwide probe of federal student-aid fraud built on stolen American identities. The National Fraud Enforcement Division acted with the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Eastern District of Virginia, Nebraska and New Jersey, charging 5 defendants in three districts. Prosecutors say conspirators filed false FAFSA applications for ghost students who never attended class, then captured the refunds left after tuition and fees were deducted.

Three districts, five defendants

In New Jersey, Mabed Patricia Utate-Alberto , Patricia Arisleydi Perez and George Arturo Alfau Mendez are charged as money mules who moved more than $1 million in Federal Student Aid funds to associates in Kenya tied to a purported safari company.…