How Kenyans got caught in $130m US ghost student scam
The alleged scheme used stolen identities to claim US student aid, with Kenyans among those charged.
In May 2024, Francis Mogambi arrived in the United States after winning the Diversity Visa lottery, a programme that gives people from around the world a chance to become permanent residents.
Just over two years later, the Kenyan national found himself at the centre of a US investigation into an alleged nationwide scheme to defraud the federal student aid system.
On 19 October 2026, a grand jury in Nebraska indicted Mogambi on five counts of theft of government money and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
"The goal is to keep the ghost student in school as long as possible. Semester after semester after semester stealing money from the taxpayers," McDonald said.