She Sold 2,956 Fake Nursing Diplomas - Thousands Are Still Licensed Nurses

For years, a South Florida nursing school operator sold a simple proposition: Skip the schooling, buy the diploma, become a nurse. Nearly 3,000 people took her up on it. On Monday, the scheme caught up with her.

Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering following a two-week trial in Fort Lauderdale. She had taken her chances before a jury rather than accepting a plea deal, changing her mind mid-trial, a decision prosecutors say will factor in her favor at sentencing.

Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health School in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School II in West Palm Beach. According to prosecutors, she conspired with others to sell fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to individuals who had never completed the coursework or clinical training required to earn registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or bachelor of science in nursing credentials, and then coached those buyers on how to pass state licensing exams

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Between April 2018 and October 2025, Noreus was responsible for providing 2,956 fraudulent nursing diplomas through the two schools. Students paid between $10,000 and $20,000 each for the fake credentials, generating an estimated $25 million in ill-gotten revenue. Of those who obtained fraudulent documents, approximately 2,274 went on to pass national nursing board examinations and obtain licenses to work as nurses in Florida and across the country.

Those 2,274 individuals are now out there, working in hospitals, clinics, and care facilities, and that is where the story turns from a white-collar fraud case into something far more alarming. Prosecutors alleged at trial that one nurse who purchased a bogus degree from Noreus' school was later linked to a patient's death at a hospital in St. Louis in 2023. The nurse had studied for only a couple of months before passing her licensing exam, but used fabricated documents claiming she had completed a full two-year RN program. She "failed to provide proper medical care" to a patient experiencing atrial fibrillation and "failed to timely notify the attending physician or nurse in charge as was protocol," according to court filings.

Because Florida's nursing license has reciprocity with 41 other states under the Nurse Licensure Compact, a fraudulently obtained Florida credential was effectively a nationwide pass into the profession.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones was direct about what this scheme cost the public:

Almost 3,000 fake nursing diplomas.

More than 2,200 nursing licenses obtained through fraud.

Today, the owner of one of the South Florida schools at the center of that scheme became a federal felon.

Healthcare licenses must be earned, not bought. https://t.co/PbICWDHLGd
— U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones (@USAReding) June 19, 2026

The case is part of Operation Nightingale, a nationwide federal investigation into fraudulent nursing diploma schemes run by for-profit schools in South Florida. The probe began in 2019 after a tip from Maryland and expanded into a sweeping dragnet targeting more than 20 private nursing schools. State authorities have since shut down both of Noreus' schools.

This is the second phase of the operation. Phase I resulted in charges and convictions against 30 defendants in 2023. Phase II has produced charges against 13 defendants, including Noreus. In total, federal prosecutors estimate the broader diploma-mill racket resulted in the sale of some 15,000 bogus degrees to students who paid more than $220 million combined to bypass the education and clinical training the profession demands.

Noreus faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. The 2,274 licensed nurses her scheme produced are still out there. No sentencing guidelines cover that.

Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.

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