Retired teacher pleads guilty to student loan fraud, illegally using coworkers’ IDs

A retired Southwest High School teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding the U.S. Department of Education through student loan fraud.

Queen Adeboyejo, 64, of Perry, admitted that she fraudulently obtained federal student loans by using the personal identifying information of three former Bibb County school coworkers, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

Adeboyejo was pursing a doctorate and was denied additional federal student aid due to poor credit. To qualify for loans, she needed someone to sign an “endorser addendum” agreeing to repay her loans if she did not.

Adeboyejo used the personal identifying information of her former coworkers, without their knowledge or consent, to create and submit fraudulent endorsement addendums online, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As a result, she obtained $93,994 in student loans and tried to get an additional $150,000.

Adeboyejo could face a maximum five years in prison and $250,000 fine. She is set to be sentenced June 26.

As part of her plea, she agreed to pay $123,732 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Education.

Adeboyejo retired in 2016 after working for the Bibb County school system for 27 years.

Her last job was teaching computer and business science classes at Southwest.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Retired teacher pleads guilty to student loan fraud, illegally using coworkers’ IDs."