For Immediate Release

Contact: Anthony Twyman
Public Relations Coordinator
Community College of Philadelphia
Office: (215) 751-8082
atwyman@ccp.edu

New Safeguards in Place at Community College of Philadelphia as Indictments Are Issued in College Enrollment Probe

Philadelphia, PA - June 2, 2004 -- U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan, the FBI, the IRS, and the Inspector General's Office today announced the filing of indictments against Delores Weaver, the former director of adult basic education at Community College of Philadelphia, Faridah Ali, the assistant director for Sister Clara Muhammad and four others in connection with a scheme to improperly enroll students and defraud the College, the state, and the federal government.

According to the indictment, Weaver, while serving as director of adult basic education, and Ali, the assistant director of Education for Sister Clara Muhammad School, carried out a fraudulent scheme from fall 1999 through December 2001 to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds earmarked to pay for adult literacy and job training. The indictment alleges that Weaver and Ali overstated the number of student registrations and courses allegedly taught at SCMS on behalf of the College. It charges that at least $224,000 in funds were used to pay teachers' salaries for adult courses that, in fact, never took place.

The indictment charges Delores Weaver, Faridah Ali, Lakiha Spicer, Azheem Spicer, and Eugene Weaver with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and theft concerning programs receiving federal funds. Lakiha Spicer and Zaynah Rasool were also charged with false statements to the grand jury. The College, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were victimized by this scheme, the U.S. Attorney said at the press conference.

Dr. Stephen Curtis, president of the College said, "I wish to emphasize that this institution was never the target of the investigation by the IRS or the U.S. Attorney's Office. As soon as federal investigators launched their inquiry, we conducted an internal and an external review of enrollment and employment procedures. Since then, we have established additional safeguards, strengthened auditing functions for these programs, and implemented more restrictive financial controls regarding dispersal of funds."

The College was in the process of re-evaluating and upgrading all community services and continuing education programs-including Adult Basic Education, GED preparation classes, and English as a Second Language classes-when IRS officials arrived on campus in December 2001 to seize the records, files and computer used by the former director of the Adult Basic Education Program.

By fall 2002, the College had completed its review and restructuring of the Division of Community Services and Continuing Education, which now handles these adult literacy programs. It also upgraded enrollment management practices, and dispersed oversight across a wider circle of college employees.

"These changes, along with other more recent improvements in the curriculum, have enabled us to improve the delivery and effectiveness of Adult Basic Education programs and provide stakeholders with superior financial safeguards and controls," Dr. Curtis said.

The revised procedures and controls include:

• Stricter enrollment policies regarding documentation and paperwork for students who enroll right before or after registration deadlines.
• Modification of procedures for appointing instructors: Instructors who are missing an official transcript or written reference may not be employed for more than one semester.
• Major reorganization of the College's Community Services and Continuing Education Division. The new organizational structure streamlines functions and facilitates coordination and control of off-campus services and programs.
• New management procedures: Spot checks are routinely made of all adult literacy classes held at community sites. These visits help staff to monitor the sites, document attendance, and independently verify registration. Uniform contracts and governance procedures have been established at all community sites.
• New storage procedures for records: All records now are stored at the main campus instead of at community sites.