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More than a dozen wealthy parents from the Bay Area, including CEOs, a vineyard owner and a doctor, were involved on Tuesday in a fraud and corruption ploy at a national college, prosecutors claiming that the parents had paid large sums of money to guarantee their children 's acceptance. at the top of the colleges, including Stanford.
The investigation has trapped Hollywood actresses, college coaches and the alleged leader, William Rick Singer, who ran Edge College and Career Network, also known as "The Key", as well as a charitable organization called Key Worldwide Foundation which has channeled money to coaches, official schools and dummy test supervisors, said federal prosecutors.
Singer, who lived in Sacramento and Newport Beach, has been charged with several counts of money laundering, racketeering, fraud and obstruction of justice, according to unsealed documents on Tuesday.
Complaint Vandemoer (PDF)
Complaint Vandemoer (Text)
The complaint filed with the federal government alleged that Stanford's longtime coach, John Nicholas Vandemoer, agreed in the fall of 2017 to designate the child of one of Singer's clients as a rookie of the team in exchange for a payment corresponding to this program.
Vandemoer, 41, was scheduled to plead guilty on Tuesday to a charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering, officials at the US Department of Justice said. In his plea agreement, prosecutors and his attorney agreed to recommend an 18-month prison sentence. Stanford University announced that Vandemoer had been fired.
"Stanford is cooperating with the Department of Justice in its investigation and is deeply concerned about the allegations in this case," said a school official in a statement. "The university and its athletics programs have the highest expectations for integrity and ethical conduct. The head coach of Stanford's sailing team was fired. "
The university stated that "the alleged behavior was contrary to Stanford's values," and officials added that they found no evidence of another school employee's fault. another team. The school said it would conduct an internal review.
As part of this program, prosecutors said Singer and others had created an athlete-athlete bid at the university that falsely claimed that the unidentified incoming student was a competitive sailor.
In May 2018, the boy postponed his application to Stanford for a year and Singer paid Stanford's sailing program a $ 110,000 payment from one of his charity's accounts to the Stanford Sailing Program, in exchange of the coach's agreement to appoint the boy as a rookie the following year. I said.
Vandemoer Advocacy (PDF)
Vandemoer Advocacy (Text)
Later in the summer, the boy decided to attend another university, but Vandemoer would have agreed with Singer to use the same recruiting position for another Singer's client in exchange for one. payment of $ 500,000 to the program.
Again, Singer and others created a collegiate application for the new "rookie" who falsely stated that the teenager was a competitive sailor, even though the student "had minimal experience of sailing," said the prosecutor. Again, this student decided not to apply to Stanford, but Singer nonetheless paid the charity $ 160,000 from his charity, according to the criminal complaint.
Singer and Vandemoer agreed that the payment would be a deposit for a future recruit, officials said.
Vandemoer could not be immediately contacted for comment, but his Boston-based lawyer, Robert Fisher, said his client had agreed to plead guilty on Tuesday because it was "the best solution for him and his family." his family, but also for Stanford ". a cooperating witness in the case, said Fisher.
"It feels horrible about what happened," Fisher said. "He has a lot of remorse. At no time did he attempt to harm Stanford or Stanford students.
The lawyer, who spoke on the phone waiting for the afternoon's plea hearing, said he wanted to clarify that Vandemoer had not cashed all of the funds, all of which were donated to the Stanford Navigation Program.
In an interview with US Sailing, Vandemoer described his recruitment strategy: "I want hard workers. From my experience, runners who care too much about the result will not make the right rational decision on the course but will instead make an emotional decision. I am looking for sailors who love to be on the water and like to sail. "
Vandemoer has been Stanford's head coach for 11 years, depending on his academic background. He graduated from Hobart Colleges and William Smith from New York in 2000, where he was part of the University Sailing Team.
At a press conference Tuesday, US attorney Andrew E. Lelling said that the investigation had attracted 33 parents to the country, revealing "a catalog of wealth and privilege." The parents included CEOs of private and public corporations, securities investors, actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, a fashion designer and president of an international law firm.
"For every student admitted for fraud, an honest and truly talented student was rejected," said Lelling. "We are not talking about giving a building. We are talking about deception and fraud. "
"The Operation Varsity Blues" recorded 36 arrests Tuesday morning, said Joseph Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the FBI's division in Boston. Among those arrested were more than a dozen wealthy parents from the Bay Area:
Agustin Huneeus Jr. of San Francisco, owner of vineyards in Napa and elsewhere, has been accused of paying for his daughter to receive assistance during his SAT test and buying the USC water polo coach.
Todd and Diane Blake of Ross would have paid for their daughter to become USC as a volleyball rookie. Todd is an entrepreneur and Diane, a leader of a retail business.
Amy and Gregory Colburn, of Palo Alto, were charged with paying for their son to cheat on the entrance examination. Gregory Colburn is a radiation oncologist.
Atherton's Elizabeth and Manuel Henriquez reportedly paid Singer's charity to buy Georgetown's head coach of tennis for their child to be accepted as a rookie. Manuel Henriquez is the founder and CEO of a Hercules Capital listed on the stock exchange in Palo Alto.
Bruce and Davina Isackson, of Hillsborough, reportedly paid for their child to be accepted to the USC as a football rookie, in addition to having obtained an unfair advantage in the examination of the rookie. Entrance. Bruce Isackson is President of WP Investments, a real estate development company located in Woodside.
Marjorie Klapper, of Menlo Park, is co-owner of a jewelry company, M & M Bling, and reportedly paid Singer to help her child with the entrance examination.
William McGlashan Jr., of Mill Valley, is accused of having paid for his son to be accepted to the USC as a football rookie. McGlashan is a senior executive of TPG Growth, a global private equity firm. He co-founded a social impact fund with rock star Bono.
Marci Palatella, of Hillsborough, is accused of having paid money to Singer for his son to be accepted by the USC as a football rookie. She is the CEO of a liquor distribution company in Burlingame and is married to former San Francisco 49er Lou Palatella.
Peter Jan Sartorio, of Menlo Park, reportedly paid to help his daughter cheat on an entrance exam at the university. It is a packaged food entrepreneur who launched Elena's Food Specialties, especially under the brand name PJ's Organic Brands.
Parents are accused of taking sometimes extravagant measures to ensure that their children are accepted into colleges.
Huneeus would have paid $ 50,000 for a supervisor to be sent to the West Hollywood Test Center to correct his daughter's responses to the SAT after undergoing the test. A note of psychologist allowed him to pass the test several days.
She ended up getting 1380 out of 1600, marking the 96th percentile nationwide. However, according to the authorities, tapping telephone calls indicated that Huneeus had complained to Singer's group that his daughter's scores were still not high enough. Meanwhile, federal officials said Huneeus had agreed to pay $ 200,000 for her daughter to be accepted to school as a water polo rookie, while she had no sport experience.
"You understand that (my daughter) is not fit to be part of this team," Huneeus told Singer's associates during a recorded appeal, according to a transcript included in the archive. The money would apparently be routed to the USC water polo coach, Jovan Vavic, also charged in the case.
McGlashan also paid for his son to be accepted as a USC football rookie, prosecutors said. The problem: he attended a high school without a football program, so they said that he was a punter.
The 10-month investigation began when the target of an independent case informed federal agents, officials said. Some 300 FBI agents and the Internal Revenue Service played a role in the operation.
Lelling said Singer had helped wealthy clients cheat on SAT and ACT tests, provide fake photos and sports referrals, and bribe college elite officials with an average of $ 250,000. at $ 400,000 per student. In some cases, parents have spent up to $ 6.5 million, prosecutors said. The parents made "donations" to Singer's charity, which were then returned to bribe the coaches.
Singer, who began working in the university counseling sector several years ago, paid more than $ 25 million in bribes through his fake charity, officials said. .
Once admitted to schools, some of the "recruits" never showed up for team practice. Others pretended to get hurt and some played briefly before leaving. But most students – none of whom have been charged – continue to be enrolled in colleges.
Aside from a single USC Administrator, prosecutors do not think that school officials other than coaches have been involved. The investigation is ongoing, Lelling said, as prosecutors estimate that more parents and coaches have taken part in the scheme.
The editors of the San Francisco Chronicle, Evan Sernoffsky and Kim Veklerov, contributed to this report.
Matthias Gafni is a writer at the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @mgafni
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