article_snippet: (CNN)Three area residents were arrested and charged Wednesday for allegedly operating four Southern California schools for Korean and Chinese students who never attended classes and lived in other states on student visas in a "pay-to-stay" scheme.
article_snippet: the three defendants Tuesday are each charged with one count of that same offense: the three defendants Tuesday are Hyung Chan Moon, also known as Steve Moon, 39, of Los Angeles who assisted in the operation and management of the schools; and Eun Young Choi, also known as Jamie Choi, 32, of Los Angeles, a former employee who also assisted in the operation and management of the school.
article_snippet: In this case, officials at several schools allegedly abused officials at several schools responsibility to ensure that only legitimate foreign students were allowed to the stay in the country.
article_snippet: Three of the schools are in Los Angeles Koreatown neighborhood:
article_snippet: That's a scheme where institutions purport to be schools, but are really not doing any education whatsoever," Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
article_snippet: One federal agent said many of the students listed on the school rolls were older, in the students listed on the school rolls 30s, 40s and 50s.
article_snippet: But the indictment alleges that students actually lived Nevada, Texas, Washington state and Arizona.
article_snippet: The schools were authorized by the federal government to issue a document that certified a foreign student had been accepted to a school and would be attending classes full time in the United States, authorities said.
article_snippet: The document, called a Form I-20, made a student eligible for a F-1 student visa.
article_snippet: During authorities investigation, authorities interviewed 35 students, mainly from South Korea, and found none resided in Los Angeles, officials said.
article_snippet: On the same day, federal authorities also visited the American College of Forensic Studies found only one religion with one student, though the school claimed an enrollment of more than 300 foreign students, prosecutors said.
article_snippet: Some students transferred to one of the four schools after attending other U.S. schools also participating in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program, prosecutors said.
highlights_snippet: Students largely came from South Korea and China, feds say .