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The federal indictment was unsealed Friday and charges 74-year-old Proat with conspiracy and wire fraud, on accusations he submit bogus information about Temple's graduate business programs to U.S. News & World Report.
“We are disappointed that, after cooperating with the government in its investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office decided to bring these charges, which Dr. Porat vigorously denies.
Porat's lawyer, Michael A. Schwartz released a statement saying he "vigorously denies" the charges against Porat.
"Dr. Porat dedicated 40 years of his life to serving Temple University, first as a faculty member, and ultimately as Dean of the Fox Business School, and he did so with distinction," Schwartz said.
"He looks forward to defending himself against these charges and to clearing his name."
Porat was fired in 2018 on accusations the school inflated data used to rank programs. He later filed a $25 million defamation suit against Temple after being ousted, which is ongoing.
U.S. News & World Report first ranked online MBA programs in 2015 -- the same year Temple was named the best program in the nation by the magazine.
Temple's online MBA program held its spot at number one for three more years.
Marjorie O'Neill and Isaac Gottlieb, both administrators at Temple, were also named in the indictment for apparently submitting data to college-ranking magazines.
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