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Dade Medical College Owner Charged

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

The owner of the now-defunct Dade Medical College, Ernesto Perez, has been charged with making illegal campaign contributions. 

This follows the abrupt closure of the six Dade Medical College campuses across Florida. 

Dade Medical College had been showing signs of financial problems. 

Miami Herald reporter Mike Vasquez has been following the Dade Medical College story and said students are now left with two options.

“For the the roughly 2,000 students at Dade Medical College, there are two options: they can find another for-profit college that will take their credits or ask the federal government for loan forgiveness and really start from scratch,” Vasdquez said. “And the reason why, in terms of transfer, they would almost certainly have to go to another for-profit college is that traditional schools such as Miami-Dade college or Florida International University are just not going to take those credits.

When Vasquez was investigating Dade Medical College, Perez hired a private eye to investigate Vasquez. 

The private eye then sued Perez for allegedly stiffing him, but said he eventually got paid.

Sammy Mack is a reporter with WLRN in Miami. WLRN is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.