University scandal shocks US
Wealthy parents, including actress Felicity Huffman, used fraud, lies and bribery to get kids into top institutions
LOS ANGELES: In allegations that sent shock waves through academia, federal prosecutors this week accused top chief executives, two Hollywood actresses and a legendary fashion designer of taking part in an audacious scheme to get their children into elite universities through fraud, bribes and lies.
The scheme, which began in 2011, centred around the owner of a for-profit Newport Beach university admissions company that wealthy parents paid to help their children cheat on university entrance exams and to falsify the athletic records of students to enable them to secure admission to elite institutions, including the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown, according to court records.
Fifty people, across academia and university sports, as well as a cadre of super-wealthy parents, have been charged in what prosecutors say is the largest university admissions scam ever prosecuted.
Some parents participated in one aspect of the scheme while others paid for both, stealing slots from hard-working students with legitimate grades and test scores, authorities said.
William Rick Singer, who owns the admissions company, called the Edge College & Career Network, was charged with money laundering, obstruction of justice, racketeering and conspiracy to defraud the US.
Singer, who co-operated with authorities in the investigation, pleaded guilty to the charges in Boston on Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.
“These parents are a catalogue of wealth and privilege,” said US Attorney Andrew Lelling.
He said they “knowingly conspired… to help their children cheat, or buy their children admission to elite schools through fraud”.
Prosecutors allege that Singer instructed parents to donate funds to a fake charity he had established as part of the scheme. Most of the parents paid at least $200000 (R2.8million), but some spent up to $6.5m to guarantee their children admission to top universities, authorities said.
The parents were then able to deduct the donation from their income taxes, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
The scheme itself was fairly simple, prosecutors said – Singer instructed parents to seek extended time for their children on ACT and SAT exams.
In at least one instance, a student claimed to have a learning disability to obtain medical documentation required to grant additional time on the tests, according to court documents.
Once the students were given additional time, which generally allowed them to take the test over two days instead of one and in an individual setting, the clients were instructed to change the location of the exam to either a public high school in Houston or a private university preparatory school in West Hollywood that Singer controlled.
At those locations, prosecutors allege, Singer bribed test administrators Igor Dvorskiy, of Los Angeles, and Lisa “Niki” Williams, of Houston, with the parents’ money to facilitate cheating on the exams.
Dvorskiy and Williams allegedly allowed Mark Riddell, of Florida, to take the students’ exams himself or provide the students with answers during the tests. In some instances, he corrected the students’ answers after they had completed the exams, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged the parents’ money was also used in some cases to bribe university athletic coaches and administrators to designate applicants as athletic recruits regardless of their athletic abilities and, in some cases, even though they didn’t play the sport.
Coaches and private admissions counsellors allegedly received money for helping to get students admitted as athletes at Yale, Stanford and USC.
USC senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel and men’s and women’s water polo coach Jovan Vavic were alleged to have received bribes totalling more than $1.3m and $250 000, respectively, to help parents take advantage of the relaxed admissions standards for athletes at USC even though their children were not legitimately being recruited as athletes.
After the charges on Tuesday, the university fired both coaches.
Former USC women’s soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin, who was fired by USC in 2013, and his former assistant coach Laura Janke, who left the university in 2014, were also named in the indictment, accused of fabricating athlete profiles for the prospective students. Khosroshahin and Janke allegedly received payments totalling nearly $350000 sent to their private soccer club.
Stanford fired the head sailing coach, John Vandemoer, who agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Vandemoer was accused of accepting financial contributions to the sailing programme in exchange for agreeing to recommend two prospective students for admission.
Federal authorities are also seeking records from several prominent Southern California prep schools.
Some of the children had knowledge of the scheme, while others were kept completely in the dark and believed they had earned admission on their own merits, prosecutors said.
Among those charged were Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Huffman was taken into custody in Los Angeles, along with 11 others. Her husband, actor William H Macy, paid bail and she was released from custody.
Loughlin has not been arrested, but she is being sought by authorities, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Law enforcement sources told The Times she was flying to Los Angeles to surrender.
Loughlin, of Full House fame, and Huffman, whose credits include the hit show Desperate Housewives, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
According to court records, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, the creator of clothing brand Mossimo, “agreed to pay bribes totalling $500 000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC rowing team” even though they did not participate in rowing.
Huffman is accused of disguising a $15000 charitable payment in the bribery scheme. Prosecutors alleged Huffman met a confidential witness who said that he could control an SAT testing centre and could arrange for someone to proctor her daughter’s test and correct it.
Huffman’s daughter allegedly took the test in December 2017 and received a score of 1420. That was a 400-point improvement from her first test.
In October last year, Huffman was recorded by the FBI discussing participating in the same scheme for her younger daughter; however, she did not ultimately pursue it.
Douglas Hodge, the former chief executive of Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management, was also indicted in connection with alleged participation in the scheme.
Prosecutors say Hodge used bribery to get his children admitted to USC as purported athletic recruits.
When Hodge’s daughter applied to Georgetown in 2008, her application indicated that she had won multiple US Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments. Association records, however, indicated she had never played a USTA match, according to court records.
Federal law enforcement began the investigation in May last year, based on a tip from a confidential source, said FBI Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta.
“Make no mistake: this is not a case where parents were acting in the best interests of their children. This is a case where they flaunted their wealth to cheat the system.
“Their actions were insidious, selfish and shameful. And the real victims are the hard-working students who ended up being shut out because far less qualified students simply bought their way in,” Bonavolonta said. | dpa