The fate of Herguan University in Sunnyvale, Calif. is uncertain after its CEO was arrested and charged with 15 counts of visa fraud on Thursday, according to The San Jose Mercury News.

Jerry Wang, 32, is alleged to have lured international students to his unaccredited school by using fraudulent documents to obtain visas. Notably, Herguan's 450-member student body consists overwhelmingly of foreign students from India.

The crimes could land him a 23-year prison sentence and cost him more than $1 million in fines.

The indictment poses a serious threat for the university's international population. If the school closes, these students will either have to rapidly transfer to a new university or return to their home countries without a degree.

While not accredited, the university operates three masters programs with approval of the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, which does not accredit universities.

Last year, the president of Tri-Valley University Susan Xiao-Ping was arrested for also submitting fraudulent documents in order to admit international students on student visas. An investigation revealed that Su was charging students tuition but not requiring them to attend class, and students were actually spread out across the nation.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last year that Tri-Valley was exploiting loop-holes in visa laws to make millions from a boom in international higher education.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Best Universities In The World
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  • 1. California Institute of Technology

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beckman_Institute_Reflection.jpg" target="_hplink">Canon.vs.nikon</a>

  • 2. Harvard University

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_college_-_annenberg_hall.jpg" target="_hplink">Jacobolus</a>

  • 2. Stanford University

    Photo Credit: Jawed<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanford_University_Walkway_Panorama.jpg" target="_hplink">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stanford_University_Walkway_Panorama.jpg</a>

  • 4. University of Oxford

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bevington_Road_Rear,_St_Anne's_College,_University_of_Oxford.jpg" target="_hplink">Stannered</a>

  • 5. Princeton University

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Princeton_University_halls.jpg" target="_hplink">Quantockgoblin</a>

  • 6. University of Cambridge

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150233390809864&set=a.10150233390734864.327542.5979139863&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

  • 7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=340671742643130&set=a.340669265976711.77598.126533127390327&type=1&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

  • 8. Imperial College London

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_College.jpg" target="_hplink">Eusebius</a> (Guillaume Piolle)

  • 9. University of Chicago

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151937029935650&set=a.10151937029525650.888631.192609620649&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

  • 10. University of California, Berkeley

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Hall--UC_Berkeley--Panoramic.jpg" target="_hplink">Falcorian</a>

  • 11. Yale University

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yale_Peabody_Museum_2.JPG" target="_hplink">Ragesoss</a>

  • 12. Columbia University

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbia_University_01.jpg" target="_hplink">Momos</a>

  • 13. University of California, Los Angeles

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eng._IV.JPG" target="_hplink">Srivas4101</a>

  • 14. Johns Hopkins University

    Photo Credit: Daderot<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johns_Hopkins_Monument,_Johns_Hopkins_University,_Baltimore,_MD.jpg" target="_hplink">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johns_Hopkins_Monument,_Johns_Hopkins_University,_Baltimore,_MD.jpg</a>

  • 15. ETH Zürich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ETHZ.JPG" target="_hplink">ZachT</a>

  • 16. University of Pennsylvania

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quad_Tower,_University_of_Pennsylvania.jpg" target="_hplink">Watchmike</a>

  • 17. University College London

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_College_London_(front_quad).jpg" target="_hplink">Polarlys</a>

  • 18. University of Michigan

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MichiganCentralCampusDiag.jpg" target="_hplink">Pentawing</a>

  • 19. University of Toronto

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=6192900998&set=a.6192815998.8417.6169515998&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

  • 20. Cornell University

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornell_University_-_Artsquad.jpg" target="_hplink">Cornell010</a>

  • 21. Carnegie Mellon University

  • 22. University of British Columbia

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_British_Columbia_-_Orientation_day.jpg" target="_hplink">DesireeAlexis</a>

  • 22. Duke University (tie)

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DukeChapel_angle.jpg" target="_hplink">PensDevil</a>

  • 24. Georgia Institute of Technology

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgia_Tech_campus.jpg" target="_hplink">Joseph Zollo</a> from Marietta, GA, United States of America

  • 25. University of Washington

    Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_-_UW_%26_University_Bridge_from_I-5_bridge_01.jpg" target="_hplink">Joe Mabel</a>