Applicant charged with impersonation

A federal grand jury issued an eight-count indictment against a man who attempted to gain admission to the University Law School using false identification, U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles announced yesterday in Philadelphia. The man, 32-year-old Jorge Chambergo of Jackson Heights, N.Y., is charged with seven counts of mail fraud and one count of using a false Social Security number in a scheme to obtain scholarship and loan money from the University. The indictment alleges that Chambergo combined his own name with that of another person, Dae Kyung Seu, and applied to the Law School on Dec. 11, 1989 using the name Dae Jorge Seu Chambergo. Chambergo also used Seu's social security number, the indictment states. The indictment charges that in January 1990, Chambergo used Seu's identity to get the Law School Data Assembly Service to send Seu's LSAT scores to the Law School. Chambergo then submitted three forged letters of recommendation, supposedly from members of the Concerned Citizens of Queens, to the Law School "knowing that these letters had not been written, authorized or signed by any of the three individuals," the indictment states. The government further alleges that in March 1990, Chambergo had a letter of recommendation, written by the dean of Morse College at Yale University for Seu, sent to the Law School, knowing it would be used for his own application. Chambergo also lied about his birthdate on a form requesting financial aid and submitted a 1990 tax return to the Law School on which he had written the name "Seu Dae" next to his actual name in an apparent attempt to confuse admissions officers, the indictment states. It is not clear when the Law School discovered Chambergo's scheme or when the U.S. Attorney's office began investigating. If found guilty of these charges, Chambergo faces up to 40 years imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release and as much as $2 million in fines, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The police have not yet arrested Chambergo, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office. Law School Dean Colin Diver said he did not recall the specifics of the incident, but recalled that the Law School referred the matter to the University General Counsel's Office for processing. "There are a lot of people who want to get into places like Penn Law School," he said. "I suppose if they are ambitious and ruthless enough, they'll do this." While Diver could not remember a case like this at the University, he said similar cases have occurred at other institutions. Chambergo could not be reached for comment for this article.

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