0:00:08 > 0:00:13Tonight the fraudsters helping bogus students rip off student loans.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27They're targeting private colleged, backed by the Government to open up
0:00:27 > 0:00:29higher education to all.
0:00:33 > 0:00:41For a cut of student's loan or cash, fraudsters can fix everything.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54They will even help fake your course work.
0:01:03 > 0:01:12At a time when student debt has topped £100 billion, student scams
0:01:12 > 0:01:17are costing us millions.From the evidence you're shown me there is
0:01:17 > 0:01:23clear fraud going on and it needs to be referred to the police.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42It is a proud day in many people's lives - graduating from university.
0:01:42 > 0:01:50The Government is keen to help more of us experience this. It is backing
0:01:50 > 0:01:54private colleges, called alternative providers, to offer degrees and
0:01:54 > 0:01:59diplomas to people who might otherwise not are the chance to get
0:01:59 > 0:02:05a higher education.Participation is very important. It is good that more
0:02:05 > 0:02:10young people are able to access higher education and particularly
0:02:10 > 0:02:15young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.In England, Wales and
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Northern Ireland, these private colleges like universities are paid
0:02:19 > 0:02:24for by taxpayer-funded student loans. Students at private colleges
0:02:24 > 0:02:32can get up to £17,000 a year - eleven to cover living expenses and
0:02:32 > 0:02:38six for tuition. It estimated that three quarters of graduates may
0:02:38 > 0:02:45never pay back their student loans in full. There are 112 private
0:02:45 > 0:02:49colleges and as they enrol more students, that is leaving them
0:02:49 > 0:02:55vulnerable to fraud.Over £400 million a year is going to support
0:02:55 > 0:02:58alternative higher education providers. It is vital we track that
0:02:58 > 0:03:08is being spent as it should be.Our investigation starts in Greenwich,
0:03:08 > 0:03:13London at the Greenwich School of Management. It has expanded and now
0:03:13 > 0:03:22has more than 4,000 students. A whistle blower told us that an agent
0:03:22 > 0:03:27who recruits on college premise is recruiting bogus students who are
0:03:27 > 0:03:29only interested in the money.
0:03:33 > 0:03:39His name is Charles Logan. We sent in two undercover students.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Sure enough we find him up stairs, near the library.
0:03:57 > 0:04:05Our student has won BTEC, the equivalent of A-levels. Enough to
0:04:05 > 0:04:11get a place. Logan gives him application for a three year honours
0:04:11 > 0:04:14degree course in business management.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Our student says he is working full-time. Logan tells him a student
0:04:24 > 0:04:29loan can be a nice little earner on top.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56Logan, who has a contract with the college, fills in our undercover
0:04:56 > 0:04:59student's loan application. His admission to the course will be
0:04:59 > 0:05:06processed by GSM. Most GSM students are recruited by the college itself.
0:05:06 > 0:05:13The rest come from free lance recruiters. We have been told by a
0:05:13 > 0:05:19whistle blower than Logan is GSM's No 1 recruiter and gets a commission
0:05:19 > 0:05:28of around £#6 00 for every student he enrols and the college gets
0:05:28 > 0:05:33£6,000 in tuition fees per student more year. More students, more
0:05:33 > 0:05:43money. Our bogus student, what does he get? £5,300 a year for living
0:05:43 > 0:05:55expenses. Although some get around £11,000. It is paid by for the
0:05:55 > 0:06:00Goth's eo' - Government's Student Loans Company. We showed our study
0:06:00 > 0:06:08to Lord Storey.The agent gets paid for each person he recruits. The
0:06:08 > 0:06:13college gets public money. The student gets student loan money and
0:06:13 > 0:06:17the Government can say, ticking the box, we have disadvantaged people
0:06:17 > 0:06:24doing higher education.We will find out later how our undercover student
0:06:24 > 0:06:29gets on.
0:06:38 > 0:06:50Our next dodgy recruiter is based in east London.
0:06:58 > 0:07:07Amir Raja runs this company: this time our undercover student who we
0:07:07 > 0:07:13send in with a friend says she left school at 16 in India, with the
0:07:13 > 0:07:20equivalent of GCSEs. Raja says there are courses she can apply for.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27The course is for business management.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Raja said she will need to show some professional experience. But she has
0:07:42 > 0:07:46already told him that she has been working cash in hand in a beauty
0:07:46 > 0:07:52salon. Not a problem, Raja takes a red pen to her CV.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41To help with this deception he writes a fake reference letter
0:08:41 > 0:08:45saying she has been employed by his company as a marketing executive for
0:08:45 > 0:08:51several years. He says it was sent with her application to the the
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Central London Campus of Roehampton University, which is run by a
0:08:55 > 0:09:03private company called QA higher education. Later after an interview
0:09:03 > 0:09:08at which Roehampton said she did well and her basic English test, she
0:09:08 > 0:09:11is accepted.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21Raja's fee for helping her cheat her way on to a degree course and apply
0:09:21 > 0:09:32for loan - £200, paid in cash.If is were row Hamilton University I would
0:09:32 > 0:09:39be concerned. We boast we have the best university sector in the word,
0:09:39 > 0:09:43but if these practices are going on, that undermines our university
0:09:43 > 0:09:51sector.We withdrew our undercover student from the course before her
0:09:51 > 0:09:55loan application process was completed. Roehampton University
0:09:55 > 0:10:02said it is disappointed an agent may have acted inappropriately and said
0:10:02 > 0:10:08partnerships are continually audited and reviewed and if procedures are
0:10:08 > 0:10:14not followed it takes immediate action. QC higher education said it
0:10:14 > 0:10:20has suspended the agent pending an investigation. Raja's company denies
0:10:20 > 0:10:23any wrong doing and say a professional reference letter was
0:10:23 > 0:10:30sent in error and management policies have been reviewed.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42Back at the Greenwich School of Management, our undercover student
0:10:42 > 0:10:46has degree-level assignments to do. Together with a friend, he pays
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Charles Logan another visit.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Logan knows just the man to help other undercover student with her
0:11:02 > 0:11:04course work.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34Logan, the Mr Fix It for bogus students tells us how it works.
0:11:44 > 0:11:51He almost make makes it sound legitimate.
0:12:12 > 0:12:18Logan gives us the number for his talented friend, he is called Mike
0:12:18 > 0:12:26and runs a company called Grammarholic. We give him a call. Is
0:12:26 > 0:12:37that Mike. I was given your number by Charles at GSM.Send me an e-mail
0:12:37 > 0:12:42and I will look at it.We ordered two assignments from Mike and
0:12:42 > 0:12:48another online. Here they are. Mike's look impressive. One cost
0:12:48 > 0:13:00£356. The other £170.I'm completely disappointed that these people are
0:13:00 > 0:13:07exploiting students. It totally de legitimises the work that students
0:13:07 > 0:13:13do, who worked hard for their degrees.There is 50,000 students
0:13:13 > 0:13:25are cheating by using essay mills to write their essays. I feel feel they
0:13:25 > 0:13:34should be banned. Grammarholics say they don't condone fraud and only
0:13:34 > 0:13:39provide essays as guides and their term and conditions say students
0:13:39 > 0:13:42should not submit writers' work as their own, although they have heard
0:13:42 > 0:13:45that some do.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Later, GSM passed our undercover student with flying colours, without
0:13:52 > 0:13:58him doing a stroke of work.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06We tell Charles Logan the good news.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20GSM says if the allegations are true, his actions are totally
0:14:20 > 0:14:25unacceptable. It suspended its contract with him and brought in
0:14:25 > 0:14:30external experts to investigate. It says if its systems have been open
0:14:30 > 0:14:33to abuse it will take all appropriate steps to strengthen
0:14:33 > 0:14:40them. Logan himself says he emphatically denies acting
0:14:40 > 0:14:49fraudulently. Either for profit or to assist students in fraud lntly
0:14:49 > 0:14:58claiming student finance.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03Most private colleges do not award their own degrees so work in
0:15:03 > 0:15:07partnership with universities. GSM pays Plymouth University to approve
0:15:07 > 0:15:14the coursework of students and ratify their final marks. Plymouth
0:15:14 > 0:15:17University confirmed our undercover student's marks and did not detect
0:15:17 > 0:15:25he had cheated.If they are going to license out their degree awarding
0:15:25 > 0:15:29status, they need to be very careful and I think this will send warning
0:15:29 > 0:15:32signals right round the university sector to make sure that they are
0:15:32 > 0:15:36really getting in there, as well as government regulation, and looking
0:15:36 > 0:15:42at the quality of work. Plymouth University says GSM is
0:15:42 > 0:15:45responsible for student admissions and attendance and is launching its
0:15:45 > 0:15:48own ball and independent investigation. It says it has...
0:16:02 > 0:16:08A Barbers shop in Ilford, East London. The unlikely starting point
0:16:08 > 0:16:16for our final investigation into student loan fraudsters.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31The man who runs the shop is called Imran and we have been told he is up
0:16:31 > 0:16:37to his neck in fraud. Our undercover student meets him in his Mercedes.
0:16:37 > 0:16:46He offers to get a college place any two-year Higher National Diploma,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49HND course, but it will cost.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09But Imran has lots more to offer.
0:17:17 > 0:17:25As well as guaranteeing admission for £200, he says once we got in, he
0:17:25 > 0:17:29can fake our attendance and supply all the academic assignments we
0:17:29 > 0:17:38need. The cost, £1500 a year, paid out of our student loan money.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50So how does Imran do it?
0:18:12 > 0:18:17This is Grafton College, on Oxford Street. It is fully approved by the
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Government was student loans and has just started offering degrees in
0:18:21 > 0:18:26partnership with the Open University. We decided to test
0:18:26 > 0:18:32Imran's claims using two undercover students. One says she is working on
0:18:32 > 0:18:36cash in hand and she is keen to get some student loan money. He says he
0:18:36 > 0:18:40will meet us at the college.
0:18:43 > 0:18:50When we get there, we find he has sent his assistant, Raza, instead.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53We tell him our student left school at 16 so does not have the
0:18:53 > 0:19:00qualifications to get on the course.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13One solution is to make our undercover student look like she has
0:19:13 > 0:19:19got more qualifications than she actually has. Imran and Raza will
0:19:19 > 0:19:23get her a certificate to say she has the equivalent of A-levels and that
0:19:23 > 0:19:27will earn them even more money.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44So £600 for a dodgy certificate. Will we get away with it?
0:19:59 > 0:20:04With the agent's promise of a real certificate fraudulently made out in
0:20:04 > 0:20:08our undercover student's name, a member of college staff later fills
0:20:08 > 0:20:11out a loan application. He seems to know the agents.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Still in the college, our undercover students pay Raza a £300 deposit for
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the dodgy certificate.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35A few days later, we paid the remaining £300 to his boss, the man
0:20:35 > 0:20:46with the Mercedes, Imran. It is now day one of our undercover student's
0:20:46 > 0:20:52HND in Business Management. Grafton College teaches courses supplied by
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Pearson, one of the UK's biggest agencies.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Our undercover and her fellow students are told they must attend
0:21:25 > 0:21:27lectures.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49The dodgy recruiters have a solution for that as well. They downstairs.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54Imran says he will fix it so she barely has to attend.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35After attending just one lecture, our undercover student gets paid
0:22:35 > 0:22:38£3600, the first instalment of her annual maintenance loan to cover
0:22:38 > 0:22:44living expenses of £11,000 a year. And two weeks later, Grafton College
0:22:44 > 0:22:54is paid the first £1500 instalment of its £6,000 a year tuition fee.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Time to pay dodgy recruiter Imran, who made it all happen. We are back
0:22:57 > 0:23:07in his Mercedes. A nice little earner at the taxpayers' expense. In
0:23:07 > 0:23:14total, we paid Imran £2300, leaving our undercover student with 8700
0:23:14 > 0:23:18from her £11,000 maintenance loan. And with a shiny new certificate, it
0:23:18 > 0:23:21all looks legitimate.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41The logo on the certificate says AVA, that is now the British
0:23:41 > 0:23:44awarding Association, a government approved company based, wait for
0:23:44 > 0:23:55it... On the floor above Grafton College. Imran says he got it from
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Asif Khawaja, head of operations at Grafton. Here they are together at
0:23:59 > 0:24:02the college earlier.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10Like all his claims about inside help, we don't know if he is telling
0:24:10 > 0:24:14the truth, but if he is, it is shocking. It looks like a genuine
0:24:14 > 0:24:19certificate and it is a genuine certificate.No, it is a genuine
0:24:19 > 0:24:23certificate but that has been arrived at by massive cheating and
0:24:23 > 0:24:27falsifying information. And it is wrong, absolutely wrong.
0:24:27 > 0:24:37We now know that Asif Khawaja's brother, Sarwar, owns the place
0:24:37 > 0:24:41whether certificate came from with the wife of Grafton's Director. When
0:24:41 > 0:24:44we asked them about it, they said they were unaware of any alleged
0:24:44 > 0:24:48fraudulent activities taking place and the family relationships cannot
0:24:48 > 0:24:56be used to somehow implicate them in alleged fraud. Asif Khawaja says he
0:24:56 > 0:25:01absolutely denies any involvement. The college says bold Imran on the
0:25:01 > 0:25:05promises from time from time to time, they are not authorised to act
0:25:05 > 0:25:13as agents. -- the college says although Raza and Imran. How much to
0:25:13 > 0:25:18the agents get from the student loan scams? Imran says he has been doing
0:25:18 > 0:25:22it for years at several colleges and many clients restaurant workers and
0:25:22 > 0:25:25taxi drivers.
0:25:34 > 0:25:41A must for words. These are corrupt educational practices, they have
0:25:41 > 0:25:44falsified information, they have broken the law, it is just mind
0:25:44 > 0:25:52blowing. I am lost for words, quite honestly.It seems to me pretty
0:25:52 > 0:25:55apparent there is criminal fraud going on. From what you have shown
0:25:55 > 0:26:02me, and it needs to be referred to the police.Neither Raza or Imran
0:26:02 > 0:26:08have responded to our allegations. Macro -- Pearson says it has put an
0:26:08 > 0:26:11immediate block on Grafton College which means it will not be able to
0:26:11 > 0:26:17register or certificated any further students for Pearson qualifications
0:26:17 > 0:26:20until the investigations are complete. The Open University
0:26:20 > 0:26:20says...
0:26:34 > 0:26:37It is expanding fast and the Government did not set up a
0:26:37 > 0:26:43regulatory system that for purpose. There has to be a crackdown, really
0:26:43 > 0:26:46investigate it and sending the auditors, but it also has to have a
0:26:46 > 0:26:49system that stops the strands are spiralling in and making money from
0:26:49 > 0:26:55the taxpayer.The Government's regulator, the quality assurance
0:26:55 > 0:27:00agency, was concerned about student admissions at Grafton two years ago,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03but this summer, at the same time we were investigating, they said
0:27:03 > 0:27:10Grafton was improving. You went in June 2017 and said the
0:27:10 > 0:27:13college was making exceptional progress, how on Earth cannot be
0:27:13 > 0:27:16true?We are responsible for assessing the quality of the
0:27:16 > 0:27:20education.You are not worried about fraud?Let me be absolutely clear,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25Ford of any kind is absolutely unacceptable and we have tools to
0:27:25 > 0:27:31investigate fraud. On several occasions, we have investigated
0:27:31 > 0:27:34collars that colleges, sometimes in partnership with other agencies.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39There has been a significant drop in the number of money -- in the amount
0:27:39 > 0:27:45of money pay the ineligible students over the last four years.But at a
0:27:45 > 0:27:49time when students that has topped £100 billion, our investigation
0:27:49 > 0:27:55shows how the student loan system is still wide open to fraud.The
0:27:55 > 0:28:01funding system is ultimately broken. These are horrible people that are
0:28:01 > 0:28:04exploiting our education system. I think that the Government needs to
0:28:04 > 0:28:07have more rigorous regulation to ensure that they are delivering
0:28:07 > 0:28:16quality teaching and learning. During this investigation, we
0:28:16 > 0:28:20received nearly £9,000 in student loans we were not entitled to. All
0:28:20 > 0:28:26the taxpayers' expense. Unlike the fraudsters we have uncovered, we
0:28:26 > 0:28:29will of course pay it back.