Merrimack College paid $75,000 to settle allegations by the United States arising from Merrimack’s participation in the federal Department of Education Perkins loan program. Merrimack’s former Director of Financial Aid forged the signatures of certain Merrimack students on promissory notes for Perkins loans without the students’ knowledge, and falsified, misrepresented, or omitted other documentation, causing the unauthorized distribution of Perkins loan money and resulting in Merrimack’s submission of false claims to the United States in violation of the False Claims Act.
The former Director later pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud in federal district court in Boston, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and ordered to pay restitution.