Getty Images 美国司法部启动“捉鬼行动”，打击一起涉案金额达2亿美元（约合1.49亿英镑）的学生资助诈骗案。
Getty Images The US Department of Justice has launched Operation Ghostbusters to tackle a $200m (£149m) student aid fraud scheme.
2026年10月30日，07:06 GMT 更新于31分钟前 2024年5月，弗朗西斯·莫甘比在中签多元化签证抽签后抵达美国，该项目让世界各地的人们有机会成为美国永久居民。
30 October 2026, 07:06 GMT Updated 31 minutes ago In May 2024, Francis Mogambi arrived in the United States after winning the Diversity Visa lottery, a programme that gives people from around the world a chance to become permanent residents.
仅仅两年多后，这名肯尼亚公民发现自己置身于一项美国调查的核心，该调查涉及一起据称全国范围内的骗取联邦学生资助系统资金的计划。
Just over two years later, the Kenyan national found himself at the centre of a US investigation into an alleged nationwide scheme to defraud the federal student aid system.
2026年10月19日，内布拉斯加州大陪审团以五项盗窃政府资金罪和五项加重身份盗窃罪起诉莫甘比。
On 19 October 2026, a grand jury in Nebraska indicted Mogambi on five counts of theft of government money and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
检方指控，在2025年11月至2026年5月期间，他与肯尼亚的同伙合作，窃取美国公民身份，并利用这些身份虚构学生在美国大学注册。
Prosecutors allege that, between November 2025 and May 2026, he worked with associates in Kenya to steal the identities of US citizens and use them to fraudulently enroll fictitious students in American colleges.
虚假学生注册后，莫甘比据称将他们的经济援助款项转给自己，留下30%，其余汇给肯尼亚的同伙。根据检方说法，该案预期损失为2万美元（约合1.5万英镑）。
Once the fake students were enrolled, Mogambi allegedly diverted their financial aid payments to himself, keeping 30% and sending the remainder to his associates in Kenya. The intended loss in his case was $20,000 (£15,000), according to prosecutors.
法庭文件显示，莫甘比每周收到2000美元，并试图招募另一人加入该计划。据称他告诉对方，他需要一项业务，让他能在不纳税的情况下兑现更大额支票。起诉书发布后不久，莫甘比被捕，目前被羁押候审。
Court documents say Mogambi received $2,000 a week and attempted to recruit another person into the scheme. He allegedly told the individual he needed a business that would allow him to cash larger cheques without paying taxes. Mogambi was arrested shortly after the indictment was returned and is being held in custody pending trial.
他的案件是美国更广泛调查的一部分，该调查代号为“捉鬼行动”，针对据称利用被盗身份在大学虚构学生注册并骗取联邦经济援助的行为。
His case forms part of a wider US investigation, dubbed Operation Ghostbusters, into the alleged use of stolen identities to enrol fictitious students at colleges and claim federal financial aid.
美国当局表示，调查迄今已导致五份起诉书，另有40起调查仍在进行中。数百人受到影响，诈骗者据称窃取了他们的个人身份信息（PII）并用于获取联邦学生资助。
US authorities say the investigation has so far resulted in five indictments, while further 40 investigations remain open. Hundreds of people have been affected after fraudsters allegedly stole their personally identifiable information (PII) and used it to access federal student aid.
被盗取的个人信息有时会在网上以4美元到8美元的价格出售，诈骗分子将目标对准了从未有机会上大学的低收入美国人。
The stolen personal information was sometimes sold online for between $4 and $8, with fraudsters targeting low-income Americans who had never had the opportunity to attend college.
在10月29日宣布调查中首批指控的新闻发布会上，负责司法部国家欺诈执法部门的助理总检察长科林·M·麦克唐纳誓言要追究涉案人员的责任。
At a news conference on 29 October announcing the first charges in the investigation, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald, who heads the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, vowed to pursue those involved.
他表示：“如果你窃取纳税人的钱财，如果你利用旨在帮助学生的项目，我们决心找到你并将你绳之以法。”
"If you steal taxpayers' dollars, if you exploit a programme meant to help students, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you," he said.
司法部表示，幕后操纵这些诈骗的人利用所谓的“超级智能”将假学生安排在课堂上并完成课程作业，从而制造他们在上大学的假象，并允许助学金发放继续进行。
The Justice Department says those behind the fraud use what is described as "super intelligence" to place fake students in classrooms and complete coursework, creating the impression that they are attending college and allowing financial aid payments to continue.
麦克唐纳说：“我们的目标是让幽灵学生在学校里尽可能呆得久一些。一个学期又一个学期又一个学期地窃取纳税人的钱财。”但其后果远不止于美国政府遭受的财务损失。
"The goal is to keep the ghost student in school as long as possible. Semester after semester after semester stealing money from the taxpayers," McDonald said. But the consequences extend beyond the financial losses suffered by the US government.
身份被盗的人可能会发现自己面临意想不到的学生贷款债务，即使他们从未注册上过大学。
People whose identities are stolen can find themselves facing unexpected student loan debts, even if they have never enrolled in college.
麦克唐纳在描述对一名受害者的影响时说：“他的身份被盗了，他的信用现在面临风险，他的名字也出现在了账单上。”
"His identity was stolen, his credit is now at risk, and his name is on the bill," McDonald said, describing the impact on one victim.
他还表示，2024年加利福尼亚州近三分之一的社区学院申请者被认定为欺诈。这起疑似欺诈的规模十分巨大。
He also said that nearly a third of community college applicants in California in 2024 had been identified as fraudulent. The scale of the suspected fraud is significant.
调查人员在2026年9月和10月识别出了830,840个可能涉嫌欺诈的联邦学生援助识别号，这些号码涉及近1.3亿美元（约合9700万英镑）。他们建议教育部将其停用。
Investigators identified 830,840 potentially fraudulent Federal Student Aid identification numbers associated with nearly $130m (£97m) in September and October 2026. They recommended that the Department of Education disable them.
这一数字代表的是与可能涉嫌欺诈的账户相关的助学金，并非已确认的损失。麦克唐纳说：“钱转瞬即逝，通常流向肯尼亚等海外地方。”调查还揭露了美国与肯尼亚之间据称存在的资金联系。
The figure represents financial aid associated with potentially fraudulent accounts, not confirmed losses. "In a flash, the money vanishes, often overseas in places like Kenya," McDonald said. The investigation has also exposed alleged financial links between the US and Kenya.
9月，美国官员前往肯尼亚，与当地执法部门合作处理引渡、起诉以及追回据称从美国纳税人处窃取的资金事宜。
In September, US officials travelled to Kenya to work with local law enforcement on extraditions, prosecutions and the recovery of money allegedly stolen from American taxpayers.
在肯尼亚调查人员的协助下，美国当局从一名与更大规模诈骗计划有关联的肯尼亚公民的加密货币账户中查获了75万多美元。司法部称，这是此类国际查封行动在肯尼亚的首例。此次查封与莫甘比的个人案件无关。
With the help of Kenyan investigators, US authorities seized more than $750,000 from a cryptocurrency account belonging to a Kenyan national connected to the wider scheme. The Justice Department described it as the first international seizure of its kind in Kenya. The seizure was not connected to Mogambi's individual case.
在弗吉尼亚州的另一起单独案件中，检方指控一名肯尼亚公民收到了700多份欺诈性学生资助退款，总额约144万美元（约合107万英镑）。随后，至少130万美元通过数千笔交易转入了美国和肯尼亚的账户。
In a separate case in Virginia, prosecutors allege that a Kenyan national received more than 700 fraudulent student-aid refunds totaling approximately $1.44m (£1.07m). At least $1.3m was subsequently transferred through thousands of transactions to accounts in the US and Kenya.
与此同时，在新泽西州，三人被指控涉嫌充当“洗钱骡子”，参与骗取100多万美元（约合74.6万英镑）联邦学生资助的计划。
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, three people have been charged with allegedly acting as money mules in a scheme to obtain more than $1m (£746,445) in federal student aid.
检方称，他们通过美国银行账户收到资金，留下一部分归自己，将剩余部分转给据称与一家所谓的野生动物园公司有关联的肯尼亚共谋者。
Prosecutors say they received the funds through US bank accounts, kept a portion for themselves and transferred the remainder to alleged co-conspirators in Kenya linked to a purported safari company.
根据司法部的说法，如果罪名成立，莫甘比将面临至少10年的强制性监禁刑期。
If convicted, Mogambi faces a mandatory prison term of at least 10 years, according to the Justice Department.
当局表示，被定罪者除面临监禁刑期外，还将面临没收资产和向受害者赔偿的相应命令。
Authorities say those convicted will also face appropriate orders for forfeiture of assets and restitution to victims, in addition to any prison sentences.