(WSVN) - The owner of two South Florida nursing schools pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after prosecutors say she sold nearly 3,000 fraudulent nursing diplomas and transcripts to people who never completed the required coursework or clinical training.
Carleen Noreus, 52, of Plantation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to money laundering following a two-week trial in Fort Lauderdale.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Noreus served as president of Carleen Home Health School, Inc. in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School II, Inc. in West Palm Beach. Between April 2018 and October 2025, she was responsible for providing 2,956 fraudulent nursing diplomas through the two schools.
The fraudulent documents falsely represented that purchasers had completed the academic and clinical requirements needed to earn Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse or Bachelor of Science in Nursing credentials.
Of those who obtained fraudulent credentials, approximately 2,274 went on to pass national nursing board examinations and obtain licenses to work as nurses in Florida and across the country.
State authorities have since shut down both schools.
“Nursing licenses must be earned through education, training, and demonstrated competence, not purchased through fraud,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement. “By selling thousands of fraudulent diplomas and transcripts, the defendant undermined the integrity of the nursing profession and our healthcare system.”
The case is part of the second phase of Operation Nightingale, a nationwide investigation targeting fraudulent nursing diploma schemes run by for-profit schools in South Florida.
The current phase has resulted in charges against 13 defendants, including Noreus. In Phase I, 30 defendants were charged and convicted in 2023.
Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge. She faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.
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