NC woman had no plans to attend college – she just wanted the financial aid, feds say
A North Carolina woman stole thousands in a financial aid scheme and didn’t plan to go to college, officials say.
Instead, she made up those dreams to get money illegally from Pell Grants and federal student loans, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Jill Thompson Arrington of Rocky Mount has been indicted on fraud charges in connection with the years-long swindle, the office wrote Monday in a news release.
When filling out admissions and financial aid forms, Arrington told officials she wanted to work toward mostly online degrees at Edgecombe Community College and Nash Community College, according to prosecutors. The schools’ campuses are east of Raleigh.
After Arrington’s money came to the colleges, she wanted them to put credit balances onto her Visa card, according to a federal indictment.
Then, she skipped or dropped classes and “used those refunds for purposes unrelated to her education,” the document says.
The woman ended up with more than $34,000 in refunds during the scheme, which ran from 2008 to 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She applied to 13 colleges in all, officials say.
Arrington, 42, is charged with “seven counts of wire fraud, one count of theft of government property, and one count of financial aid fraud,” according to prosecutors.
The wire fraud count has the highest maximum penalty, a $250,000 fine and up to 20 years in prison, federal officials say.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 3:50 PM with the headline "NC woman had no plans to attend college – she just wanted the financial aid, feds say."
