Boards move to sanction Iowans licensed through error or fraud
The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing administers and oversees many of Iowa's state licensing boards. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images; logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
An Iowa woman appears to have procured her barbering and cosmetology license through fraud, according to state records.
Iowa Board of Barbering and Cosmetology recently reached an agreement with Suong Ngoc Nguyen to have Nguyen surrender her cosmetology license.
While the agreement does not specify any allegation of misconduct by Nguyen, the charges against her reference administrative rules that are related to procuring a license through fraud, possibly by filing with the board 'any false or forged diploma, certificate, affidavit, identification or qualification.'
The agreement suggests the board granted Nguyen a license to work in Iowa four years ago, in 2021, one day after she provided the board with evidence that she was licensed in California.
The available board documents do not indicate where Nguyen has worked but suggest she may have lived in Boone at one time. The agreement to have Nguyen surrender her license has little practical effect since board records indicate the license expired in March 2023.
According to the board, Nguyen can apply for a new Iowa license in one year.
Other recent actions by Iowa licensing authorities include:
— The Iowa Board of Massage Therapy has notified Huimin Zhao that it intends to rescind Zhao's massage-therapy license, which the board says it granted only because of a clerical error on its part.
According to board documents, Zhao applied for a license in December 2024 and listed JK Holy Career Institute as the school where he completed his education in 2021. However, the institute was decertified in 2019. Despite that, the board responded to Zhao's application in January 2025 by issuing him a license to work in Iowa.
The available board documents give no indication as to where Zhao worked in Iowa after his license was issued.
— The Iowa Board of Pharmacy reached an agreement with Carl Markley of Ames, who is currently serving a life sentence for sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of children and adults, to surrender his Controlled Substances Act registration.
Prosecutors alleged Markley used fraud and coercion to cause dozens of teenage boys and young men, as well as a few young women, to engage in sex acts in exchange for money or other benefits. Markley was a nurse practitioner in Ames and owned several businesses. He surrendered his Iowa nursing license in May 2023.
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