The Umansky Law Firm

A 23-year-old Delaware man has been charged with identity fraud, larceny and falsifying documents from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Phillips Academy, and other schools.

Allegedly, the accused submitted applications for the Rhodes Scholarship and the Fulbright Scholarship while he was a senior at Harvard in 2009. Within the application were several recommendations from Harvard professors, his college transcript which showed perfect grades for three years, a project statement, and a resume listing books he had allegedly co-authored, lectures he had given, and courses he had taught.

A Harvard professor who reviewed the application noticed similarities between the application of the accused and another Harvard professor. Upon investigating further, it was found that the accused had allegedly plagiarized virtually the entire application. After this, it was found that he had falsified documents when applying to Harvard, including recommendations, transcripts, and essays and test results from MIT and the Phillips Academy of Andover. It was found that he never attended these schools.

While at Harvard, the accused won two prestigious writing prizes, the Winthrop Sargent Prize in English and the Hoopes Prize, as well as a research grant. These submissions were also plagiarized. He won a total of $14,000 for these prizes and the grant, and was also awarded financial aid from Harvard totaling $31,000.

As all of this was going on, in January, the accused allegedly stated he was taking the spring semester off from Harvard and applied to McLean Hospital for an internship. He said he was going to work on two scholarly books during this time. The hospital did a background check and found the accused had misrepresented himself in his application and was not given the internship.

In addition, the accused submitted false information in applications of transfer to Yale and Brown universities, stating he was employed at McLean Hospital and had recommendations from hospital employees and his former dean at Harvard.

If you have been charged with fraud in Orange County or Orlando, Florida, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm for a free initial consultation.