Toms River Woman Admits Role In $24M GI Bill Fraud Scheme: AG

NEWARK, NJ — A Toms River woman and former associate dean at Caldwell University has admitted her role in a scheme that diverted more than $24 million from the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Lisa DiBisceglie, 56, of Toms River, the former associate dean of the Office of External Partnerships at Caldwell University, and Helen Sechrist, 61, a former employee of the Pennsylvania-based company Ed4Mil LLC, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden in Newark federal court to separate complaints charging them each with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Fitzgerald's office identified her as living in Lavallette, but her home address is in the Chadwick Beach section of Toms River, according to property records. Her mailing address is Lavallette because that U.S. Post Office serves Chadwick Beach.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a federal education benefits program designed to help veterans who served in the armed forces following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It pays for tuition, housing costs, and other educational expenses as long as their courses meet certain criteria, Fitzgerald's office said. The funds are paid by the federal government directly to the school the veteran is attending.

“DiBisceglie and Sechrist were part of an elaborate bait-and-switch scheme that stole millions of dollars in Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition assistance,” Fitzpatrick said. “Instead of receiving a quality education under the Caldwell brand, the veterans that were recruited by Ed4Mil were enrolled in unapproved online courses without their knowledge, all while members of the conspiracy profited from their hard-earned benefits."

Fitzgerald's office alleges that from 2009 through August 2013, Ed4Mil founder and president David Alvey, 50, of Harrisburg, PA, along with DiBisceglie, Sechrist, and others, conspired to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in tuition assistance and other education-related benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

The charge and allegations against Alvey are still pending, Fitzgerald's office said.

Authorities allege DiBisceglie helped Ed4Mil get approval from Caldwell’s administration to develop and administer a series of noncredit online courses for veterans in Caldwell’s name. In order for the courses to be eligible for education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, DiBisceglie,

Alvey and others prepared and submitted an application with the Veterans Administration stating that the courses were developed, taught, and administered by Caldwell faculty and met Caldwell’s stringent educational standards, authorities allege. As a result, the courses were subsequently approved, and Sechrist, Alvey, and others aggressively marketed the courses to veterans who were eligible to receive the benefits, Fitzgerald's office said.

However, Caldwell did not participate in developing or teaching the online courses. Instead, the veterans were ultimately enrolled in online correspondence courses developed and administered by a sub-contractor of Ed4Mil. Neither Ed4Mil nor its sub-contractor were disclosed to the government, and neither were eligible to receive Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

DiBisceglie, Sechrist, Alvey, and others concealed the true nature of the courses from the government and the veterans who enrolled in the courses, Fitzgerald's office said. Thousands of veterans enrolled in the online courses believing they were taking courses from Caldwell, authorities said.

Altogether, the scheme caused the United States to pay over $24 million in tuition benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

“The VA’s Post-9/11 GI Bill is a comprehensive educational program meant to help our nation’s veterans advance their education and careers as they move from military service to civilian life. Defrauding this important VA program costs our nation’s taxpayers and VA and does a tremendous disservice to our veterans,” said Donna L. Neves, Special Agent in Charge, Northeast Field Office, U.S. Department of Veterans, Office of Inspector General.

“Scams like this steal money from hardworking taxpayers and legitimate students – and in this case, our veterans – and that is completely unacceptable,” said Debbi Mayer, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Northeastern Regional Office. “I’m proud of the work of the OIG special agents and our law enforcement partners for holding Ms. DiBisceglie and Ms. Sechrist accountable for their criminal actions.”

DiBisceglie and Secrist face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, Fitzpatrick said. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2018.

Editor's note: This article was updated Oct. 20 to reflect that Lisa DiBisceglie's home is in the Chadwick Beach section of Toms River. The U.S. Attorney General's office gave her address as Lavallette, which is her mailing address.

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