Steven B. Feldman, age 60, has been accused of using a degree mill, Hamilton University, an online college which markets life experience degrees, to obtain counseling credentials and secure a job thereafter as a Saratoga County Family Court mental health counselor.
The diploma mill fraud charges were brought by New York State in June. Feldman, who resides in Saratoga Springs, New York, was paid more than $10,000 by the court system to evaluate indigents for psychological and mental status.
According to a Fraud Report in the Post Star newspaper, Feldman is a registered mental health counselor in New York. He used a distance learning diploma from Hamilton University as part of his credential application.
New York prosecutors have classified Hamilton University as a degree mill and question the use of Feldman’s fake college degree from this bogus online school as adequate for the position in which he was employed.
A New York State resident who had a case reviewed by the Saratoga County Family Court reported Feldman after becoming suspicious of his college diploma based on his work performance.
Feldman is being charged by the Saratoga County Court with third-degree grand larceny along with a first-degree charge of filing false instruments. The counselor also faces two counts of first degree falsifying business records.
The court holds that Feldman was representing himself as a trained mental health professional and that he received fees based on false or misleading education and university credentials from Hamilton University. Prosecutors claim the bogus or fake college and education credentials do not qualify Feldman for the job.
The felony charges in New York State carry a sentence of up to 7 years prison time.
Hamilton University, the degree mill, should not be confused with the real and prestigious residential college, Hamilton College of Clinton, New York. Hamilton operated in Wyoming under a fake accrediting agency until closed by court order. The online school, which specializes in life experience degrees, may currently be operating as Richardson University in the Bahamas.
For more on the history of this fake college degree mill and its current status, consult GetEducated’s Diploma Mill Police Accreditation Report for Hamilton University as well as the Degree Mill Report for Richardson University.
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