California Lt Gov hopeful promised jobs at Chinese school tied to US diploma fraud

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who is running for lieutenant governor, is facing backlash for promising jobs and internships at a China-based boarding school to students accused of degree fraud in connection with the California school district after the school’s founder poured tens of thousands of dollars into their campaigns.

Pegasus California School, headquartered in Qingdao, China, was the subject of an investigation completed in February by California education officials in Riverside County over concerns that the Val Verde Unified School District was illegally awarding degrees to Pegasus students in China. It also identified other potential concerns regarding Pegasus and California education officials working for the district and the California Department of Education, noting that there was evidence that those officials were involved in potential fraud, misappropriation of funds and other illegal financial practices. The audit concluded that investigators found “a pattern of favors, official actions, promises and payments” that led the California Department of Education to ultimately approve a pilot program that allowed wealthy Chinese students to earn U.S. high school diplomas abroad.

Meanwhile, a post on the school’s website shows Ma visiting the school in 2023 and telling students, parents and teachers there that he could help students enrolled in the school find jobs and internships in the United States. The same post on the school’s website heralded Ma’s visit as evidence of “the California government’s recognition and interest in Pegasus,” which became a sister school with the Val Verde Unified School District in California in 2016. Diplomas in one year.

“Fiona chose Pegasus as the only school to visit in China, which shows that the California government recognizes and cares about Pegasus,” Pegasus wrote in a post archived from its website. he boasted.

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It then included a quote from Ma: “I am honored to come to Qingdao Pegasus California School today to see many students performing and communicating with them. If they want to do an internship in California, they can come to me, I will provide some internship and employment opportunities.”

Steven Ma, who is unrelated to Fiona Ma but is the founder of Pegasus, directly contributed over $13,200 to the State Treasurer and Lt. Governor campaigns, according to California campaign finance records dating back to 2021.

Pegasus founder’s college admissions consulting firm ThinkTank Learning Inc., according to state campaign finance records. has also contributed $23,800 to Ma’s campaigns since 2010.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Ma for comment about his visit to the China-based school and to the Val Verde school district multiple times to ask if it was aware of Ma’s visit, but did not receive a response.

Business Insider published a The harsh report in 2021 Pegasus California School has been called out for its improper relationship with the Val Verde Unified School District, Business Insider claims, following a recently completed audit of Pegasus by California education officials. According to Business Insider, the China-based school charged students up to $34,000 a year and operated as a private boarding school despite utilizing Val Verde resources. According to Fox News Digital’s review, the school’s own website describes itself as an “independent” international school that uses a “fee and enrollment” framework for students once accepted, similar to how private schools in the United States operate.

A school district in Riverside County is accused of improperly awarding diplomas to nonresident Chinese students through a partnership with a foreign sister school, according to a lengthy audit that found potential fraud and illegal financial practices. (Fox News Digital)

February 2018 Memorandum of Understanding The agreement between the China-based boarding school and Val Verde, reviewed by Fox News Digital, stated that in exchange for receiving degrees and teachers from the United States, ten students from the Val Verde school district would be given the opportunity to travel to China and attend Pegasus for 10 days for $300 per student. An exchange program was also organized for Pegasus students to visit schools in California. While the audit did not appear to identify any direct refunds from Pegasus to Val Verde, it does highlight other benefits such as travel, mentoring opportunities, scholarships and “massive publicity” that benefit officials and the region beyond its own students.

Meanwhile, Pegasus allegedly told its students and parents that it could guarantee them admission to one of the top 100 universities in the United States, and that if this did not happen, a full refund of their tuition fees would be given. The 2019 Memorandum of Understanding included in the California audit showed that the University of California – Riverside even made a commitment that students meeting certain academic thresholds would “receive UCR scholarships.”

Students walk past the Sather Gate on the University of California Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California. On January 25, 2024, the university’s Board of Trustees postponed a vote on allowing immigrant students without legal status to apply for university jobs until 2025. (Ben Margot/AP)

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Riverside County School Superintendent Dr. Following the audit, publicly announced by Edwin Gomez in March and completed by Riverside County officials in February, the California Department of Education issued a cease and desist order on Pegasus’ website, demanding that it discontinue official statements claiming it was founded in 2016 with the “blessing and support” of the department.

“California Business and Professions Code Section 17533.6 makes it unlawful for a nonprofit to use the name of a state government in a manner that could reasonably be construed or construed to imply affiliation, endorsement, or approval of the state government,” the March cease and desist said. The statement was included. “The above statement on your website may or may not be construed as indicating that the California Department of Education is affiliated with, approves of, or certifies Pegasus California School. We hereby state that the California Department of Education is not affiliated with, approves, or disapproves of Pegasus California School.”