Avarez) will fulfill any obligation imposed by the Court relating to the filing and preparation of documents necessary to collateralize any personal surety bond which may be set. Ignacio Avarez, on Janufiled a temporary appearance notice to the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, with the understanding that he (Cllr. Prior to the filing of the bill of particulars by the prosecution, Witherspoon’s legal representative, Cllr. The title of the Bill is the United States Bill of Particulars as to Forfeiture and the case number is 22-60005-CR-SMITH.įorfeiture is the loss of any property without compensation as a result of defaulting on contractual obligations, or as a penalty for illegal conduct. These schools are now closed.īut on January 25, 2023, the US government filed a bill of forfeiture to have properties of the defendants that are on US soil seized. The grand scheme involved the distribution of more than 7,600, at a unit price of US$15,000, fake nursing diplomas issued by three South Florida-based nursing schools: Siena College in Broward County, Fla., Palm Beach School of Nursing in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Sacred Heart International Institute in Broward County. The operation uncovered a massive healthcare education fraud put at a whopping US$114M. The scheme was busted as a result of an FBI operation known as “Operation Nightingale”. Witherspoon, along with defendants Alfred Sellu and Rene Bernadel were recently indicted for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent nursing diploma and transcripts scheme uncovered recently in Florida, New Jersey and New York. The majority of properties from Witherspoon and his co-accused that might be up for seizure are in New Jersey, where he resides, with the rest located in Florida and Georgia.

The United States provides notice that it seeks Forfeiture of the following properties pursuant in Title 21 United States Code, Section 835(p),” the US Justice Department wrote in court documents. 'Plaintiff United States of America hereby files the following Bills of Particulars pursuant to 32.2 (a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures.

The bill of forfeiture request, which was filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeks to have the properties of Witherspoon and some of his co-accused, located on US soil, seized as a result of their alleged participation in a wire fraud scheme that created an illegal licensing and employment shortcut for aspiring nurses, netting a whopping US$114 million. The US Department of Justice has filed a request with a federal court to confiscate the properties of Liberian media mogul, Stanton Witherspoon.

Bill of particulars new jersey