Former Cornell Student Sentenced in Financial Aid Fraud

A former Cornell University student will have to repay $70,000 after being sentenced to 5 years probation and a fine of $1,000. 26-year-old Cavya Chandra of Indiana pled guilty to federal student loan fraud and was sentenced Monday. When Chandra was denied admission to Cornell in 2008, she gained acceptance to Carnegie-Mellon University using a forged letter of recommendation. She was later accepted to Cornell using a forged transcript. The forgeries went undetected until she applied to medical school using more forged transcripts from both Carnegie-Mellon and Cornell. She was expelled from Cornell, after receiving approximately $130,000 in financial aid. Despite her expulsion, she applied to Purdue, again using forged transcripts. She was granted a degree, but it has since been rescinded.