Wealthy Elitists Scamming College Admissions Get Pinched

[Shabibilicious]

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin among those charged in $25 million nationwide college admissions cheating scam

 AARON KATERSKY, BILL HUTCHINSON and MIKE LEVINE,Good Morning America 29 minutes ago 

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Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin among those charged in $25 million nationwide college admissions cheating scam (ABC News)

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin among those charged in $25 million nationwide college admissions cheating scam originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and a slew of chief executives are among 50 wealthy people charged in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, federal officials said Tuesday.

Those indicted in the investigation, dubbed "Varsity Blues," allegedly paid bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California, federal prosecutors said.

"This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud," Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said at a news conference.

"There can be no separate college admissions system for the wealthy and, I'll add, there will not be a separate criminal justice system either," Lelling said.

Ringleader to plead guilty

According to Lelling, the ringleader of the scam is William Singer, owner of a college counseling service called Key Worldwide Foundation, who accepted bribes totaling $25 million from parents between 2011 and 2018 "to guarantee their children's admission to elite schools."

Singer is expected to plead guilty in a Boston federal court on Tuesday on charges of racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice, Lelling said.

Those charged in the probe include nine coaches at elite schools, two SAT and ACT exam administrators, one exam proctor, a college administrator and 33 parents, including Huffman and Loughlin.

"The parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege," Lelling said. "They include, for example, the CEOs of private and public companies, successful securities and real estate investors, two well-known actresses, a famous fashion designer and the co-chairman of a global law firm."

Also named as defendants in the indictment are Robert Zangrillo, founder and CEO of the private investment firm Dragon Global; Bill Glashan, a businessman and international private equity investor; and Gordon Caplan, a New York attorney.

Fake athletic credentials

He said in many of the cases, Singer allegedly bribed the coaches, who "agreed to pretend that certain applicants were recruited competitive athletes when, in fact, the applicants were not."

Lelling said the coaches allegedly "knew the students' athletic credentials had been fabricated."

He said Singer allegedly worked with the parents to "fabricate profiles for their kids, including fake athletic credential and honors, or fake participation in elite club teams."

Singer allegedly even had parents stage photos or Photoshopped pictures of their children participating in sports.

Singer also arranged for a student to take the SAT and ACT exams individually with a proctor in Texas or California he had bribed, Lelling said.

In one case highlighted by federal prosecutors, the head women’s soccer coach at Yale University was paid $400,000 to accept a student even though the applicant did not play soccer. The parents of that student had paid Singer $1.2 million.

Other elite schools named in the scam were the University of Texas, UCLA and Wake Forest.

Joe Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Field Office, said 300 special agents fanned out across the country early Tuesday and arrested 38 people. He said seven other suspects were working to surrender to authorities and one is being actively pursued.

Huffman was arrested at her home in Los Angeles, while Loughlin, who is in Canada, had yet to be taken into custody, sources told ABC News.

School officials react

USC President Wanda M. Austin addressed the scandal in a letter to the university community.

"The federal government has alleged that USC is a victim in a scheme perpetrated against the university by a long-time Athletics Department employee, one current coach and three former coaching staff, who were allegedly involved in a college admissions scheme and have been charged by the government on multiple charges," Austin wrote.

Austin vowed to take "appropriate employment action" against school employees involved in the scam and will review admissions decisions.

"It is immensely disappointing that individuals would abuse their position at the university in this way," Austin's letter reads. "We will continue to cooperate fully with all law enforcement regulatory investigations."

Wake Forest officials also released a statement saying the North Carolina school's head volleyball coach was one of the defendants indicted.

"The university has retained outside legal counsel to look into this matter," the Wake Forest statement said. "Wake Forest has placed Ferguson on administrative leave."

The nationwide scheme was prosecuted in Boston partly because it was uncovered by FBI agents working on an unrelated case, officials said. Fake test scores were submitted to Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern University, officials said, but none of those schools were named in the indictment.

In most cases the students did not know their admission was contingent on a bribe, officials said.

According to the charging papers, Huffman "made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 ... to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter."

Bribes disguised as charitable contributions

"Huffman later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so," the documents allege.

Federal agents secretly recorded telephone calls with Huffman and a cooperating witness, according to the court papers.

The documents say Loughlin -- best known for her role as Aunt Becky on the ABC sitcom "Full House" -- and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, "agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team -- despite the fact that they did not participate in crew -- thereby facilitating their admission to USC."

Federal agents obtained emails from Loughlin implicating her in the scam, according to the documents.

Federal authorities ultimately had three cooperating witnesses to help them build their case.

"Today's arrests should be a warning to others: You can't pay to play, you can't cheat to get ahead because you will get caught," Bonavolonta said.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/actresses-ceos-arrested-nationwide-college-admissions-cheating-scam-142252158--abc-news-topstories.html

 

GO RV, then BV

[Shabibilicious]

The next step for all those people who's parents have done this for them in the past:  Lawyer up and have said lawyer write threatening letters to all the schools you ever attended and threaten legal action if they divulge your academic grades or records to the public.    As always, just my opinion.

 

GO RV, then BV

Edited March 12, 2019 by Shabibilicious

[Shabibilicious]

U.S.

Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Olivia Jade Detailed How Parents Forced Her into College

 Ryan Naumann,TheBlast 2 hours 30 minutes ago 

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“Fuller House” star Lori Loughlin didn’t just work the system to get her daughter into a good college, she also worked her daughter over to convince the girl to get a higher education.

Loughling’s daughter with designer Mossimo Giannulli is an aspiring social media star, and recently sat down on the “Zach Sang Show” podcast to detail her college life, and why she even decided to attend.

During the interview, Olivia makes it clear she went “Mostly because my parents really wanted me to go,” adding that neither of her folks are college grads. She didn’t really get into the academic aspect too much, but said she enjoys vlogging around campus on YouTube to showcase her “college life.”

Ironically, she recently tweeted that YouTube will always be her greatest passion, and she’d rather be vlogging than “sitting in 6 hours of classes straight.”

 

As we reported, Olivia’s parents have been charged for allegedly participating in a huge operation to scam entrance exams into elite colleges. Both Lori and Mossimo have been accused of paying over $500,000 to get their daughters into USC.

Lori’s older daughter, Isabella Rose, also attends USC and Olivia said she was “following in her footsteps.” Arrest warrants have been issued for both Lori and Mossimo, but they do not yet appear to be in custody.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lori-loughlin-daughter-olivia-jade-160906917.html

 

GO RV, then BV

 

[umbertino]

 

Supposedly that kind of stuff ( the way we knew it so far) used to happen ONLY in other Countries and Continents...

 

My own Country being most likely one of the first on that list.....

 

So the story above comes as a surprise......

 

Well...I guess that's a 1st time for everything ...Good and bad...It's called " the loss of virginity & purity" in most any context

[umbertino]

College admissions scam: Affirmative action for the rich and the famous

 

March 14, 2019 12:28 PM CDT By Michelle Zacarias

 

 

 

 

A Stanford University student walks in front of Hoover Tower on the campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Federal authorities have charged college coaches, parents, and others in a sweeping admissions bribery case in federal court. | Paul Sakuma / AP

 

 

 

 

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/college-admissions-scam-affirmative-action-for-the-rich-and-the-famous/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pay to (not) play: Coaches cash in with college admissions bribery scam

 

March 13, 2019 1:35 PM CDT By Tim Dahlberg

 

 

 

 

Texas men's tennis coach Michael Center, center left, walks with defense lawyer Dan Cogdell, center right, away from the United States Federal Courthouse in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, March 12. Center is among those charged in a scheme that involved wealthy parents bribing college coaches and others to gain admissions for their children at top schools, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. | Ricardo B. Brazziell / AP

 

 

 

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/pay-to-not-play-coaches-cash-in-with-college-admissions-bribery-scam/