Winmax Trading Group director Anthony Miller has degree from notorious diploma mill
WINMAX TRADING GROUP, INC.form 10ksb filing date 5/8/2003
Mr. Anthony Miller, age 47, has been our Director since June 2001. From 1996 to
present, Mr. Miller has been the President and a Director of US Crude of
Redland, California. From March 2001 to November 2002, Mr. Miller was a Director
of Southern States Power, an SEC reporting company that is publicly traded on
the OTC Bulletin Board. In 1998, Mr. Miller received a Master of Arts Degree in
Business Administration from Columbia State University located in Metairie,
Louisiana. In 1979, Mr. Miller received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business
Administration from Cal-State University located in Long Beach, California.
=====================
For Immediate Release
April 18, 2003Los Angeles Press Office
11000 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1700
Los Angeles, California 90024
Tel: 310-477-6565
OPERATOR OF ORANGE COUNTY 'DIPLOMA MILL' INDICTED ON FEDERAL MAIL FRAUD CHARGES
The former owner and operator of an Orange County-based correspondence school called Columbia State University was indicted today on federal mail fraud charges for running what was allegedly nothing more than a "diploma mill" that offered academic degrees from a non-existent school.
Ronald Pellar, 73, a former professional stage hypnotist who also used the name "Ronald Dante," was indicted Thursday afternoon by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. The indictment alleges nine counts of mail fraud.
In 1998, Pellar was convicted and sentenced on federal contempt charges in the Central District of California in an unrelated case. He is currently incarcerated at the federal correctional facility at Taft, California, serving a 67-month sentence.
According to court documents, Pellar set up Columbia State University in 1996 at a business office in San Clemente. CSU falsely represented itself to be a government-approved university in Louisiana and it falsely claimed to have faculty and accreditation sufficient to confer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees by correspondence in as little as one month. Pellar created promotional materials, including a university catalog, that falsely told prospective students that CSU had an administration composed of Ph.Ds and medical doctors and that it had received full accreditation from legitimate accreditation agencies. The catalog cover featured a photograph of a building that bore no relation to the fictitious CSU or its San Clemente office. The mailing address was in Metairie, Louisiana, but in reality that was only a mail forwarding service that simply resent all correspondence to CSU's addresses in Southern California. The indictment alleges that, in November 1997, Pellar fled the U.S. and continued to direct the activities of CSU from Mexico through subordinates.
The indictment alleges that CSU took in more than $10 million from students around the country in tuition fees during the scheme. The indictment alleges that students around the country were defrauded because CSU gave them the impression that it was a legitimate academic institution, but in reality it was nothing more than a diploma mill.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The charges filed Thursday carry a maximum potential sentence of 45 years in federal prison and potential fines of up to $2.25 million.
Pellar will be ordered by writ to appear in federal court to be arraigned on the new charges in the next month.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
| Press Releases | Los Angeles Home Page | |
