2009: Klug convicted of foreign student fraud

Fayette Klug was sentenced on charges of theft by deception and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device. The victims were a Chinese exchange student and a Norwegian exchange student. She was both host-mother and sponsor-representative. Following is an extract from an article by Trisha Schulz at

The Norfolk Daily News

Posted: Friday, July 24, 2009 12:00 am

Judge Robert Ensz sentenced 35-year-old Fayette Klug to one to three years in prison on charges of theft by deception and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device. …

Ensz said a greater sentence would’ve been justified in the case, but he went along with a recommendation by the Madison County attorney’s office.

The two foreign exchange students – one from Norway and one from China – were placed in Klug’s home about a year ago and attended Battle Creek High School.

Klug asked the two girls for money to cover expenses while they were in the U.S. and used their prepaid credit cards to make unauthorized charges.

The two students didn’t understand that Klug was actually being reimbursed by the foreign exchange student placement company and didn’t need to pay her themselves.

…

The foreign exchange placement company, STS Foundation, repaid the girls in full. The total amount taken was more than $10,000, …

Ensz … particularly pointed out Klug’s past criminal history, which included a previous theft by deception and issuing bad checks.

He then sentenced her to prison and ordered her to pay the costs of prosecution.

STS Foundation sought restitution from Klug …

The entire article may be read at The Norfolk Daily News

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Case progression:

• 2008 Oct 11: Woman allegedly steals $10,000-plus from live-in foreign exchange students

  • The girls also told Bowersox that they were locked in the basement apartment area that they shared. At the time, Klug told them it was an accident – that the door was broken. …. Both students were removed from the Klug residence earlier this week. …. Why Klug was even hosting foreign exchange students has become a point of investigation because she is a convicted felon.

•  

  2008 Nov 04: Foreign exchange student incident under review by federal department

• 2008 Nov 18: Bank records obtained
• 2008 Dec 19: Woman accused of stealing enters plea

  • Klug was arrested Oct. 10. She appeared Thursday in court in jail clothing and was represented by the Madison County Public Defender’s office.

• 2009 Jun 09: Plea agreement offered in fraud of foreign exchange students

  • Thirty-five-year-old Fayette Klug pleaded no contest to theft by deception (over $1,500), a Class II felony, and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, a Class I misdemeanor, … The foreign exchange placement company in which Klug worked for – STS Foundation – has been scrutinized for allowing Klug to host foreign exchange students in the first place because of her being a prior convicted felon. She was sentenced in 2006 for a theft by deception charge to 264 days in jail.

2008 Nov 04: Foreign exchange student incident under review by federal department

Posted: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 12:00 am
Special to the Daily News

There have been no sanctions against an Arizona foreign exchange student placement company, but three incidents currently are under review, including one involving students placed in the care of a convicted Norfolk felon.

Darlene Kirk of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State said STS Foundation reported two of those situations themselves. Both of those incidents involved host fathers.

The third situation came under review after a Daily News article was published regarding the arrest of Fayette Klug of Norfolk.

Klug is accused of stealing more than $10,000 from two foreign exchange students in her care. Klug was a representative of STS Foundation even though she is a convicted felon.

“When we receive word of an incident involving the health, safety or welfare of a student, we contact the sponsor to ask for a report on the situation,” Kirk said. “This includes incidents or allegations of actual or alleged sexual exploitation or abuse, and serious problems or controversies which could bring notoriety or disrepute to the Department of State.”

Since the three incidents are under review, Kirk declined further comment.

When an incident comes to the attention of the department, standard operating procedure dictates that the sponsor, such as STS, send in a full report including copies of host family applications, proof of criminal background checks and personal references, a detailed profile of the school, family and community in which the student was placed, among other information.

STS told Mike Bowersox of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office that it ran a standard criminal history check and the database turned up no convictions on Klug.

STS became a program sponsor in 1986 and currently has 393 active high school student participants.

STS has paid back some of the money that was stolen from the two students.

© 2014 The Norfolk Daily News

Helpline US Department of State

1-866-283-9090 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) The Department of State activated the helpline to ensure the health and safety of its exchange participants. Students have a right to be treated fairly and to report abuse without retaliation or threat of program cancellation. (Dep of State)

Blind trust in exchange organisations

You would not send your child to a house at the end of your street if you knew nothing about the person living there. Yet on the strength of a glossy brochure, the payment in some cases of vast sums of money, and an assumption that someone else has asked the right questions, we send our children thousands of miles across the world to stay with strangers.

The companies, organisations and individuals that abuse this blind trust cannot be allowed to continue to profit from it and we must all take responsibility for the care and safety of our young people. (Chris Gould)