[ad_1]
A university tennis coach who also served as the personal instructor of former first lady Michelle Obama and her daughter, Malia, was among the 46 people charged by the federal authorities under the law. a large corruption case in a college, announced Tuesday.
According to the indictment released Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Massachusetts, Gordon Ernst, a women's tennis coach at the University of Rhode Island, is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering during his years as a tennis coach at Georgetown University.
There is no indication that Malia, a sophomore at Harvard, was involved in the scandal in any way.
Between 2012 and 2018, Ernst allegedly accepted more than $ 2.7 million in bribes in exchange for the placement of at least 12 students in the Georgetown tennis team, including "some who have not played tennis competitively, "according to the indictment.
Ernst allegedly received bribes from charitable accounts created by William Singer, owner of a college-based consulting firm based in Newport, California at the center of the case.
At a press conference Tuesday, Massachusetts District Attorney General Andrew Lelling called the scheme "the biggest scam in terms of admission to the university ever pursued by the Ministry of Justice ". Yale, Stanford, and Georgetown were among the schools identified as having been duped into accepting unskilled applicants.
The actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among the 33 parents charged in what law enforcement officials called Operation Varsity Blues.
According to prosecutors, in 2015, a Georgetown claimant sent Ernst an email that Singer wrote on his behalf containing "falsified information about [his] alleged tennis skills. According to the prosecutors, the student had never played tennis competitively. Ernst sent the email to a Georgetown admissions officer and six days later he wrote to confirm the student's acceptance in Georgetown. In exchange, the student's parents donated $ 400,000 to a false charitable foundation created by Singer, according to the prosecutors, and forwarded to Ernst.
In a statement, Georgetown said to be "deeply disappointed" to learn what would be blamed on Ernst and that the school is cooperating fully with the government's investigation.
Ernst, the men's and women's head coach in Georgetown, resigned in December 2017. He was hired by Rhode Island as the school's tennis coach next August.
He was put on administrative leave Tuesday by the school, which said in a statement that "Ernst" has not participated in either the recruitment of current players or the signing of new recruits ".
In Georgetown, Ernst became friends with the Obama family, according to the Providence Journal, tutoring Michelle and Malia Obama.
"Michelle has a big setback," Ernst told the New York Times in 2014.
In 2015, Ernst, a native of Cranston, R.I., was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame of USTA New England.
According to the indictment, he resided in both Chevy Chase, Maryland and Falmouth, Massachusetts.
If he is found guilty, Ernst will have to give up the $ 2,719,963 paid in bribes, a membership in the Chevy Chase Leisure Club and the property he owns in Falmouth.
_____
Learn more about YahooNew:
[ad_2]
Source link