PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Moshe Porat, the former dean at the Temple University Fox School of Business, is facing fraud charges for allegedly lying about information to make the top of the lucrative U.S. News & World Report's rankings.
The online MBA program at the Fox School of Business was ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report for four straight years, starting in 2015. Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said that ranking was based on false information.
Porat is charged with fraud and conspiracy. He faces up to 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine if he is convicted.
Employees Isaac Gotlieb and Marjorie O’Neill each face a charge of conspiracy in the case. They both face up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, along with a $500,000 fine.
“The indictment alleges that Porat, Gotlieb and O’Neill thereafter conspired together to manipulate several metrics for two different Fox programs — the online MBA and the part-time MBA programs — in order to increase the school’s rankings,” said Arbittier Williams.
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Upon learning that U.S. News didn’t independently cross-check the data submitted for its influential college rankings, the indictment says Porat masterminded an effort to give the magazine false data, including the percentage of students who had taken the GMAT test.
The Fox Business School's part-time MBA program also rose from No. 53 in 2014 to No. 7 in 2017.
According to the indictment, Porat referred to the ratings in marketing materials which were sent to prospective students and donors. Arbittier Williams said the school’s enrollment went up based on the inflated rankings, and the school's tuition revenue rose by millions of dollars.
“Each year the ranking went up, the size of the student body went up. In other words, this was not a victimless crime,” she added. “If you are making financial sacrifices to attend a school that is the top-ranked school nationally, those sacrifices should not be made because someone lied to you about what you were getting in return.”
In a statement, Porat’s attorney, Michael A. Schwartz, said his client “vigorously denies” the charges and looks forward to defending himself and clearing his name.
Porat was dean of both the Fox Business School and the School of Sports, Tourism and Hospitality Management from 1998 until 2018. He served in the dean's role at the Fox Business School starting in 1996.