The Los Angeles Film School paid $1 million to resolve a federal audit in 2020, but avoided the stiffer penalties that have befallen other for-profit colleges accused of fraud.

The results of the Department of Education audit were not publicly disclosed at the time, but are included in a settlement agreement obtained by Variety .

LAFS is facing a federal whistleblower lawsuit that alleges a massive scheme to hire thousands of graduates for fake, two-day jobs. According to the complaint, the scheme was intended to inflate the school’s “job placement” figures — that is, the number of graduates who were able to find work — in order to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal student aid.

The Department of Education auditors reviewed the school’s job placement data, but the

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