LAUREL, Md. — A Laurel man was sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison for selling fraudulent nursing diplomas and school transcripts.
Patrick Nwaokwu, 55, took part in a scam that cost its victims more than $1.5 million in losses.
Starting in 2018 Nwaokwu and Musa Bangura, 67 of Manassas, Virginia, started soliciting Maryland residents who were in search of nursing degrees.
The duo began selling their victims phony credentials from an unlicensed school in Virginia.
When the school lost its license, Nwaokwu and Bangura would backdate the documents to make it appear as if the buyer took courses there beforehand.
Nwaokwu continued scheming in Maryland through July of 2021 when he conspired with a pair of Florida men to sell fake nursing degrees out of the so called Palm Beach School of Nursing.
The U.S. Department of Justice says Nwaokwu charged $17,000 for Registered nursing degrees and between $6,000-$10,000 for LPN degrees.
Prosecutors detailed how Nwaokwu instructed his victims to leave their graduation date blank on their National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) applications so he could backdate it.
According to the Feds, this allowed for some to obtain licenses from the Maryland Board of Nursing, and practice here in the State.
"As a result, Nwaokwu and his co-conspirators consciously and recklessly exposed Maryland patients to potential harm, risk of death, and serious bodily injury," the DOJ said in a release.
Bangura was previously sentenced to 13 months for his part.
MORE: Audit reveals status of hundreds of Maryland nurses potentially practicing with fraudulent licenses
The issue of fraudulent nursing licenses came to light in January 2023, when the FBI busted a Florida based diploma scheme called Operation Nightingale.
In October 2023 the Maryland Board of Nursing released a list of names tied to the investigation.
As previously reported by WMAR-2 News, an April 2025 legislative audit raised specific concerns about the Maryland Board of Nursing's lack of investigative efforts into hundreds of nurses who may have used fraudulent credentials to obtain a state license.
