Feds set up fake university, arrest 21 in bogus visa case

The University of Northern New Jersey fielded no sports teams, held no graduation ceremonies and had no instructors, classes or degree programs. It did have a very attractive website that promised an "exceptional" education for foreign students wishing to study in the U.S.

It was a sham from beginning to end, and it was created by federal authorities, who used it to arrest 21 people on charges they conspired to help more than 1,000 foreigners fraudulently keep or obtain student or work visas over the past 2 1/2 years.

The defendants whose arrests were announced Tuesday knew the school was bogus, as did the foreigners, who pretended to be students there in order to stay in the U.S., authorities said. But they didn't know it was set up as part of a sting by undercover agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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