Fraudulent Attacks on College Admissions: USC Launches 2 Sports Employees and Stanford Launches Coach

The University of Southern California has fired a senior sports administrator and a head coach after being charged on Tuesday for their alleged role in a major corruption project at the universities. Meanwhile, Stanford University has dismissed sailing coach John Vandemoer as part of this program. The layoffs were one of the first major repercussions of what the FBI calls a "national conspiracy".

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, USC announced that it had dismissed Donna Heinel, deputy director of sports of the school, and Jovan Vavic, coach of men's and women's water polo.

Heinel and Vavic were accused of accepting bribes of over $ 1.3 million and $ 250,000, respectively, to help students enter this elite private university. by designating them as athletes.

"We understand that the government believes that the illegal activities were perpetrated by individuals who have made great efforts to conceal their actions at the university," said the school in a statement. "USC is conducting an internal investigation. Donna Heinel and Jovan Vavic were fired and the university will take other measures in favor of employment, if any. "

The university also said that she was "identifying all the funds" that she had received through the conspiracy and that she would "revise her processes". admission in general to ensure that such actions do not occur anymore ".

Dozens of administrators, coaches, famous parents and leaders were indicted on Tuesday in the FBI investigation, accused of taking part in a bribe project aimed at ensuring students' entry into universities, including Yale, Harvard, Georgetown and USC. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among the parents indicted.

Vandemoer, the head coach of Stanford's sailing team, would have accepted the payments in exchange for the recommendation of two students for the team. According to Stanford, none of the students were admitted to the university, although school officials dismissed Vandemoer because his "behavior in this case runs counter to Stanford's values."

The parents involved in the scheme would have used tactics such as bribing admissions examiners, paying people who behaved like children on entrance exams, and falsely claiming that their children had learning difficulties. to allow them to spend more time on exams.

Some, like Vavic and Heinel, have also corrupted coaches and administrators of higher education institutions so that their children will be accepted as student athletes, regardless of their actual skills.

The daughter of Gamal Abdelaziz, former chief of operations of Wynn Resorts, was accepted to the USC to play basketball but she never joined the team, according to court documents. In other cases, the students would be crew stars or tennis champions, but never joined the teams on campus.

Two other former USC coaches have also been indicted: Ali Khosroshahin, fired from his coaching position in 2013, and Laura Janke, a former assistant coach who left the team. school in 2014. Khosroshahin and Janke reportedly received about $ 350,000 in payments through their private football club.

Vavic has received 15 awards from the National Coach of the Year and led the USC water polo teams to 16 National Combined Championships.

Carla Herreria contributed to this report.