The US Department of Justice announced the charges on Thursday, October 29, as the first results of Operation Ghostbusters. The nationwide investigation targets people accused of using stolen American identities to obtain federal student aid. According to the department, the five defendants face charges in three separate cases. Two of them are Kenyan nationals.
Prosecutors allege the network filed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms in the names of Americans, often people who had never attended college. The fake applicants, known as "ghost students", were then enrolled in colleges. After deducting tuition and fees, the colleges paid out the rest of the aid to bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Pulse Live Kenya reported that some fraudsters allegedly used artificial intelligence to complete coursework and keep the enrolments active.
In Nebraska, a federal grand jury indicted Kenyan citizen Francis Mogambi on October 19. He faces five counts of theft of government money and five counts of aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors allege that between November 2025 and May 2026 he kept 30 per cent of the proceeds and sent the rest to associates in Kenya. According to Pulse Live Kenya, the department said he entered the US in May 2024 after winning the Diversity Visa lottery. He is in custody awaiting trial.
In Virginia, an unnamed Kenyan national was indicted on October 21. He is accused of receiving more than 700 fraudulent aid refunds worth about $1.44 million. Prosecutors say he moved at least $1.3 million to accounts in the US and Kenya. In New Jersey, three people were arrested and accused of acting as money mules. Prosecutors say they received more than $1 million and sent it, minus their share, to people in Kenya linked to a purported safari company. The department said it plans to charge two alleged co-conspirators based in Kenya.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said investigators would pursue suspects "whether you are in Nebraska, New Jersey, Virginia, or Nairobi." He described the crypto seizure as the first international seizure of its kind in Kenya. According to Capital FM, via AllAfrica, the seizure followed a September visit to Kenya by US officials to discuss extradition, prosecutions and asset recovery. The White House said in a post on X that the money often goes "overseas to places like Kenya".
Investigators have flagged 830,840 potentially fraudulent student aid IDs linked to nearly $130 million. They advised the Department of Education to disable them. The FBI has separately identified more than $32 million in losses from similar schemes. Capital FM reported that more than 40 cases are open across 26 FBI field offices. The department said the investigation is ongoing, and the charges remain allegations.