Man Indicted in Teacher Certification Scheme

(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) -- Federal officials have charged 58-year-old Clarence Mumford in an alleged 15-year test-taking scheme, the Memphis Business Journal reports.

Mumford is accused of collecting money from teachers in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee in exchange for paying others to take their teacher certification exams. Mumford, who is a former assistant principal at Humes Middle School and a guidance counselor at Hillcrest High School in Memphis, was named in a 45-count indictment. The charges include wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and document fraud, the paper says.

He allegedly received between $1,500 to $3,000 from the teachers per test, to pay teachers and non-teachers -- including at least four current or former Memphis City Schools teachers -- to take the certification exams for them. Officials say more then 50 people were involved in the scheme.

Mumford is presently employed at an Arkansas school. He retired from Memphis City Schools in 2010 after being accused of fondling a female student, according to the Journal.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio