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Washington, DC native Paul Giordano, the CEO of Pinellas Corporation, a for-profit school that offers computer training courses in Virginia, has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle allegations that he paid bonuses to his consultants based on their success in securing the enrollment of students receiving very specific veteran benefits.
According to federal prosecutors, under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, military veterans can receive tuition assistance from the Department of Veteran Affairs, with that assistance paid directly to the educational institution they attend.
However, institutions were not eligible to receive the assistance “If the educational institution provides any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments or financial aid to any persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting or admission activities or in making decisions regarding the award of student financial assistance.”
Giordano ran afoul of that edict.
Between 2015 and 2016, prosecutors say that Pinellas, doing business as the New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Richmond and New Horizons Computer Learning Center of Washington, DC, paid bonuses to consultants who targeted students receiving the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
It was further alleged that between Aug. 15, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2016, Pinellas falsely certified that it had exercised reasonable diligence in meeting all applicable requirements in submitting nearly 1,000 claims for financial assistance for the veterans, which only benefitted him.
Because of false certifications Pinellas made to the VA, the institution paid out tuition payments that the business was not authorized to receive, leading to federal charges.
According to his LinkedIn account, Giordano graduated from the University of Florida with high honors in 1975 before going to Harvard Business School to earn his MBA. He is listed as the president and CEO of Pinellas Corporation since June 1992.
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