Lauderdale Lakes Resident Under Indictment by FBI

Readers, please say hello to Ricardo Pradel. He hails from Lauderdale Lakes, where he was working on his American dream.And then the FBI caught on to his act. What was he doing that was so bad? Well our sister paper, Miami New Times, reported that Pradel was fabricating high school diplomas...

By Devin Desjarlais

December 14, 2010

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Readers, please say hello to Ricardo Pradel. He hails from Lauderdale Lakes, where he was working on his American dream.

And then the FBI caught on to his act.

What was he doing that was so bad? Well our sister paper, Miami New Times, reported that Pradel was fabricating high school diplomas for prospective students at the American Institute, a trade college, where he was working as an admissions officer.

The FBI wasn't so upset about that though. They were more upset about how Pradel helped those fake high school graduates apply for federal funding -- $156,000 to be exact.

Pradel was indicted last week and charged with "federal financial aid fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $20,000 fine."

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