Belford High School Diploma Scam Class Action Settlement

A settlement has been proposed in a class action lawsuit alleging Belford High School, Belford University and other co-conspirators engaged in a scam to dupe people into paying to receive high school diplomas from schools that don’t really exist.

If you obtained a Belford High School diploma at any time between Jan. 1, 2003 and Jan. 23, 2012, you may be entitled to payment from the Belford scam class action settlement.

The Belford High School class action lawsuit was filed on Nov. 5, 2009 and alleged that the Belford defendants perpetrated an internet scam in order to defraud prospective students out of their money. The plaintiffs claim Belford High School offers a “valid” and “accredited” high school diploma, but that in reality, the diplomas are not valid because the school is fake.

The plaintiffs allege that Belford claimed to be accredited by the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities and the Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation, but that these entities are also fake.

In August 2012, Belford High School, Belford University and other co-conspirators were ordered to pay $22.7 million to more than 30,000 victims of their scam. The court found that Belford High School and Belford University are fake schools.

Belford reportedly admitted that it never had any administrators or employees, that the accrediting agencies are fake, and that the names of faculty and administrators posted on the diplomas were also fake.

After the judgment was entered, the plaintiffs’ attorneys attempted to find money from the defendants in order to pay the victims of the Belford scam. They reportedly located money in accounts who were held in the names of Pitko Inc., Tullow Inc., Mivvel Inc., Lateral Designs Inc., IT Device Pro Inc. and Payment Profs Inc., and they believed this money actually belonged to Belford High School. The attorneys subsequently sought to recover the money from these defendants.

The defendants disagree that the plaintiffs would have won at trial but agreed to settle the diploma scam class action lawsuit to avoid the burden and expense of ongoing litigation.

According to the Belford class action settlement website, the Belford defendants have been ordered to stop using the scam websites associated with their deception, including www.BelfordHighSchool.com, www.BelfordHighSchool.org, www.BelfordUniversity.org and www.BelfordUniversity.com. These websites have reportedly been taken down so that no further consumers are subjected to the fraud.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members of the diploma scam settlement include U.S. residents who obtained a Belford High School diploma at any time from Jan. 1, 2003 to Jan. 23, 2012.

Potential Award

Varies, depending on the total number of valid claims that are filed and how much money Class Members spent in connection with the Belford High School diploma.

The maximum payment that a Class Member may receive is the amount they paid in connection with their Belford High School diploma. However, the Claims Administrator will determine individual payments based on the number of total claims filed and the amount of money the Class Members spent.

Proof of Purchase

Class Members must submit a copy of their Belford High School diploma, or evidence explaining why they are unable to submit a copy of the diploma.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM (PDF) »

Claim Form Deadline

6/12/2017

Case Name

Lauber, et al. v. Belford High School, et al., Case No. 4:09-cv-14345, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Final Hearing

7/10/2017

Settlement Website

www.BelfordClassAction.com

Claims Administrator

Belford Class Action
PO Box 6878
Broomfield, CO 80021
(844) 320-4304
BelfordClassAction@Googasian.com

Class Counsel

Thomas Howlett
Dean Googasian
THE GOOGASIAN FIRM PC

Defense Counsel

Todd Holleman
MILLER CANFIELD