Troubled Dade Medical College shut down abruptly. Was that a crime? Judge will decide
There’s no dispute that Ernesto Perez, the troubled former owner of a controversial for-profit medical college, abruptly shuttered his campuses three years ago, leaving hundreds of students and staff members in a lurch.
But was it a crime?
Perez may finally find out. A judge on Wednesday began weighing whether Perez broke the law when he failed to give 30 days’ notice that he was closing Dade Medical College and its sister school, the University of Southernmost Florida. The trial lasted most of the day but was suspended so that Perez’s defense lawyers can appeal legal issues surrounding the interpretation of the obscure state law under which he was charged.
Perez, who faces up to 120 days in jail if convicted, was charged under a state law that requires that a school owner notify Florida’s Commission for Independent Education at least 30 days before its doors close. According to investigators, Perez made the decision at noon on Oct. 30, 2015, then notified staff and students via email four hours later. The commission learned one hour after that.
“He knew he was in financial problems and they decided at the last minute to close down the school,” prosecutor Isis Perez, who is not related to the defendant, told Miami-Dade County Judge Andrew Hague.
Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article223304655.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
