Weston Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in International Student Recruitment Scheme

BOSTON – A Weston man pleaded guilty today in connection with a scheme to defraud private high schools and international students of millions of dollars in tuition and other fees.

Keenam “Kason” Park, 59, of Weston, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud before U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf, who scheduled sentencing for Nov. 2, 2020. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of 51 months in prison, two years of supervised release and a fine and restitution/forfeiture of at least $5,192,330. Park was charged in November 2019.

Park caused EduBoston to collect tuition and other payments from students’ families for the 2019-2020 academic year but failed to remit tuition payments to partnering schools. Instead, Park used the funds on unrelated expenses, including personal expenses. Park also caused EduBoston to collect advance tuition and other payments for the 2020-2021 academic year, which Park failed to return to the students’ families after EduBoston went out of business around September 2019. As a result, EduBoston owes over $5 million to partnering schools.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie A. Wright of Lelling’s Securities, Financial and Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.