Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and six other senators are urging Attorney General Loretta Lynch to begin an extensive investigation into determining whether Corinthian Colleges and its executives violated federal civil and criminal laws.
“Corinthian’s collapse over the past year has come at the cost of hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars and at the expense of thousands of students who were enticed to enroll in -- and to incur massive debt for -- failing school programs," the senators wrote in a joint letter. "At the same time that Corinthian’s executives were enriching themselves on federal student loan dollars, with the CEO making an annual salary that exceeded $3 million, allegations of Corinthian’s misbehavior grew increasingly widespread. While corporate accountability for Corinthian is important, so is personal accountability for those who led this company.”
On Tuesday, Corinthian Colleges Inc. formally filed for bankruptcy. At the time of closure, they were participating in the federal Title IV program and receiving taxpayer dollars and in several states, while continuing to enroll new students.
Corinthian, which brought in more than $1 billion per year from taxpayers during its operation, has been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department,and 20 state attorney generals including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. They have been sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state attorneys general of California, Massachusetts and Wisconsin for false and misleading advertisements.
Durbin was joined in writing the letter by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN).
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