complaint was filed with the Columbiana county Board of Elections challenging the qualifications of Austin French, a candidate for county sheriff. French said that he was unaware that the FBI had shut down LaSalle University or that its founder had been sent to prison." In early 2009, it was reported that Jeffrey Camarda, a Florida financial planner who had been promoting himself as holding a finance Ph.D. from a "LaSalle University", had obtained his degree from Kirk's operation in Louisiana. Camarda received an inquiry into his background by the CFA Institute, after which he voluntarily stopped using the PhD as a credential. Camarda became involved in civil litigation with a former colleague, who asserted that Camarda had committed fraud when he represented his diploma mill credential as a valid Ph.D. A 2009 Independent Weekly story reported on the controversy surrounding the newly elected vice chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Tim Johnson. Johnson claimed to have a Ph.D. in Total Quality Management; however, he would not discuss his alma mater, which he had previously cited as LaSalle University, 2000. In an email signed, "Timothy F. Johnson, Ph.D.," Johnson replied to a direct inquiry merely by saying that he would not answer questions about his background. Johnson still claims the designation on his own website, but his educational background is not divulged. In 2010, a Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives, Mark Ouimet, was criticized for claiming a master's degree in business administration from "LaSalle University," implying that his degree was from the accredited La Salle University in Philadelphia when it was obtained from the unaccredited school in Louisiana. Ouimet's degree was awarded in 1999, after Kirk's operation had been shut down. Ouimet won the election. In February 2015, Mohau N Pheko, South Africa’s ambassador to Japan and former ambassador to Canada, said she regretted having fraudulently claimed on her resume to have earned a PhD from LaSalle University in 2000, claiming instead to have done the work but been thwarted by the university’s sudden closure. In March 2020, the State of Florida's ethics commission recommended that Mel Jurado, the mayor of Temple Terrace, be sanctioned after finding she claimed a PhD from the University of Illinois, when she had actually received it from LaSalle University in Mandeville, Louisiana. See also List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning List of unrecognized accreditation associations of higher learning TJ Kirk,