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The federal authorities in Boston announced Tuesday indicting dozens of people for a so-called ploy to bring people to elite colleges and universities through so-called sports talent, but not necessarily.
The indictments include charges of conspiracy related to racketeering, wire fraud and more.
The charges relate to coaches, parents, and some who have administered exams. Two acclaimed actresses – Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin – are among the defendants.
The institutions involved include the Universities of Georgetown, Stanford, Wake Forest and Yale and the University of Southern California.
In one of the documents released today, one of the cooperating witnesses described the scheme – highlighting the differences between trying to get his child into a college and college. Elite by donation:
The federal authorities only release documents this morning, but the general trend seems to help non-athletes gain the benefits of being admitted as athletes. In the best colleges, being a recruited athlete can create a huge advantage.
For example, one of the defendants today is John Vandemoer (left), who is Stanford 's sailing coach, and who was still on the team' s website on Tuesday. midday. He is accused of having participated in a racket conspiracy with a company that helps people who wish to be admitted to the university. According to the indictment, the plot was aimed at enriching the people involved, including Stanford coaches.
According to the indictment, the various parties worked to "designate the candidates as alleged recruits for competitive sports teams, including the Stanford sailing team, regardless of their athletic abilities." in exchange for bribes "and would indulge in" hiding the nature and source of bribe payments ".
In one of the cases evoked in the indictment, US $ 110,000 was paid to sailing accounts at Stanford in return for a false designation of someone else. one who was distinguished by his veil.
The allegations also extend to fraud on the SAT and ACT. According to the charges, those involved in the conspiracy encouraged the students to be paid to help file documents with ACT or the College Board, claiming that they had learning disabilities. When they received permission to take the test under special circumstances (usually with extra time), they were asked to use one of the two test centers that one of the defendants had stated to be able to control. People who were tested were then asked to present false reasons, such as a family wedding, to justify the need to pass the examination in one of these centers, away from their home. . Bribes would then have been given for other people to take the tests.
In other cases, according to federal documents, "a so-called exam supervisor would provide students with the correct answers, or review and correct student responses after completing them."
A sad detail in the documents published today: "In many cases, students who were standing for exams were not aware of the fact that their parents had arranged for this cheating."
Felicity Huffman (right), the actress, is among those accused of cheating in this way on behalf of her eldest daughter. The indictment accuses Huffman of considering the same thing for a younger girl but to evade it.
The other accused actress today – Lori Loughlin – is accused (along with her husband) of paying US $ 500,000 to have her two daughters nominated as rookies for the team at the University of Southern California, although the indictment is not part of the team.
The indictment explains in detail how the couple was informed that their eldest daughter was "at the bottom of the ladder" of USC admission standards and that They then accepted the corruption plan. An email from Mossimo Giannulli, Loughlin's husband, to one of the people implicated in the alleged corruption contains the following sentence: "I might like to sit down after your session with the girls because I have some worries and I want to understand the game well. plan and make sure we have a roadmap for success with regards to [our daughter] and bring it to another school than the ASU! "
At least one of the couple's daughters, a YouTube personality named Olivia Jade Giannulli, may not have wanted to go to USC for an intellectual experience. As People reported last year, she faced many critics for a video in which she described this approach to her first year at the university: "I do not know how many school I will patronize but I will talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try to balance everything. But I want to live the experience of match days, parties … I do not really care about school, as you all know. "
As shocking as the indictments are, the concept described has already been the subject of a federal indictment in July.
Philip Esformes is a Florida business executive who faces numerous Medicare fraud charges regarding retirement homes and assisted living centers he owns. In July, he was accused of bribing a basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania to help the son of Esformes to be admitted to Penn. The indictment indicated that Esformes had given $ 74,000 in cash. Although his son played basketball in high school and was admitted to Penn, he never played basketball on his team. The coach is Jerome Allen, who has run the Penn program for six years and is now assistant coach of the Boston Celtics.
Andrew Lelling, an American Massachusetts lawyer, said at a press conference Tuesday that some parents had paid up to $ 6.5 million "to guarantee" their children's admission to colleges of elite. He said that a total of 33 parents were indicted.
"There will be no separate admission system for the rich. And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either, "Lelling said.
David Hawkins, Executive Director of Content and Education Policy at the National Association for College Admission Counseling, has e-mailed these reflections on the indictments:
"This is an unfortunate example of the efforts being made to bypass and manipulate the process of admission to colleges, especially in very selective colleges," Hawkins said. "The activities involved are an indication of why NACAC has put in place an ethics code since 1937, which aims to ensure that those involved in admission to the university adhere to a ethical process based on a commitment based on fairness, trust, responsibility and fairness. that with such a demand, acceptance to the university can lead to a unethical (and illegal) behavior. "
Hawkins added, "This is an extreme response to the" commodification "of the college admissions process, which is centered on accepting colleges as an end in itself when, as the CCNPA members, the development of the student in a college that suits them best. "
The University of Southern California issued a statement shortly after the publication of the indictments. "We are aware of the vast ongoing criminal investigation involving universities in the country, including USC," the statement said. "USC has been accused of no wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate fully with the government's investigation.We understand that the government believes that the illegal activities were perpetrated by individuals who have deployed much Efforts to conceal their actions at the university.USC is conducting an internal investigation and will take the necessary action in the area of employment.USC is identifying all the funds received by the USC. In addition, the university reviews its admission processes generally to ensure that such actions no longer occur. "
This is a break story that will be updated.
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