Medical Licensing Test Prep Company Owner Extradited
On November 5, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced that one of the owners of the test prep company, called Optima University, made her initial appearance in a New Jersey Court after she was extradited from Latvia. She is accused of stealing licensing examination questions from the National Board of Medical Examiners that are currently used on medical licensing tests.
The defendant’s name is Egija Kuka and she operated the business in Totowa, New Jersey with her former husband, Eihab Suliman. Each of the defendants is charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Eihab Suliman is considered a fugitive.
According to court documents, Optima University helped students prepare for the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The test is used to assess if international graduates from medical school are ready to practice medicine in the United States. The test questions are copyrighted and are not allowed to be reproduced.
On December 2, 2007, Kuka applied to take the USMLE in Milan, Italy, after she lied and said she graduated from the University of Oradea (a medical school in Romania). She forged a diploma from the university along with a Certification of Identification Form.
Kuka proceeded to take Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE on April 7 and April 14 of 2008. Video surveillance used for the test proved that Kuka used a small video recording device to record the questions that were displayed on the computer screen. Kuka sat in on Step 1 again on May 28, 2008.
Authorities conducted a search at Optima University on May 28, 2008 and found that the company was using the live questions recorded by Kuka. She now faces 6 counts in the indictment, and she can receive up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
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