The college admissions scandal bell tolls for thee, Harvard

[Anonymous]

The crooked father had resigned from Governor Larry Hogan advisory board, not by his own choice: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-zhao-resigns-hogan-20190404-story.html

In a statement, Hogan spokesman Mike Ricci says the governor has accepted Zhao’s resignation from the commission as of Thursday.

“Governor Hogan expects every member of this administration to maintain the highest ethical standards, and will certainly hold accountable those who fail to do so,” Ricci wrote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The crooked father had resigned from Governor Larry Hogan advisory board, not by his own choice: https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-zhao-resigns-hogan-20190404-story.html

In a statement, Hogan spokesman Mike Ricci says the governor has accepted Zhao’s resignation from the commission as of Thursday.

“Governor Hogan expects every member of this administration to maintain the highest ethical standards, and will certainly hold accountable those who fail to do so,” Ricci wrote.

And let those without any sin caste the first stone....

[Anonymous]

From the locked thread:

OK, here is everything in a nutshell:

1. The Dad, who is a well known wealthy Chinese businessman asked his sons' fencing coach to do something to get his son to Harvard.
2. The coach in DMV area (I don't want to name him, but you can find who he is) set up a non-profit organization.
3. The Dad forked over $1M to this coach's "Foundation"
4. This coach asked the Harvard fencing coach to set up a "Foundation".
5. This coached forked over $100,000 to the Harvard fencing coach's "foundation".
6. This STA's Chinese student then got into Harvard.
7. The Dad bought Harvard fencing coach's house. the house was estimated by the county around $500'sK. The Dad bought it for close to $1M.
8. The Dad fly Fencing coach around
the second son went to Harvard.
9. These above transactions are only what have been exposed. There are likely numerous cash or other transactions that haven't been exposed.

I believe both sons are American, even though their father (or both parents) are originally from China.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I doubt the DOJ will ignore the apparent money laundering aspect and defer to the NCAA, but maybe with the help of Mr. Zhao's legal team?

Can someone explain how this is money laundering?

Disguised bribery as a sale for value, at an inflated valuation. Classic trade-based money laundering. It had all the elements too: placement, layering, and integration.

So in this case, who’s laundering the money? Does the term “laundering” mean that you are taking money earned illegally and converting it to untraceable clean money or is that just the movie description? Because it doesn’t sound like the guy who bought the house did so with illegally earned money.

No, read the section at the end of the article. The dad donated $1 million to a fencing foundation. That foundation in turn donated $100K to a charity newly created by the Harvard fencing coach. The dad's older son was subsequently admitted to Harvard. The Harvard fencing coach's charity only lasted a couple of years after the donation, which could suggest that it was set up for the sole purpose of laundering money.

That’s money laundering? Isn’t that how foundations work?

No. Bribery is not a valid "charitable purpose."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I doubt the DOJ will ignore the apparent money laundering aspect and defer to the NCAA, but maybe with the help of Mr. Zhao's legal team?

Can someone explain how this is money laundering?

Disguised bribery as a sale for value, at an inflated valuation. Classic trade-based money laundering. It had all the elements too: placement, layering, and integration.

So in this case, who’s laundering the money? Does the term “laundering” mean that you are taking money earned illegally and converting it to untraceable clean money or is that just the movie description? Because it doesn’t sound like the guy who bought the house did so with illegally earned money.

No, read the section at the end of the article. The dad donated $1 million to a fencing foundation. That foundation in turn donated $100K to a charity newly created by the Harvard fencing coach. The dad's older son was subsequently admitted to Harvard. The Harvard fencing coach's charity only lasted a couple of years after the donation, which could suggest that it was set up for the sole purpose of laundering money.

That’s money laundering? Isn’t that how foundations work?

No. Bribery is not a valid "charitable purpose."

Whether or not this one turns out to be a legal problem, I am guessing there are a ton of variations on the theme and more to come over the next few years. Have to be more than a handful of DMV parents doing some sole searching ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I doubt the DOJ will ignore the apparent money laundering aspect and defer to the NCAA, but maybe with the help of Mr. Zhao's legal team?

Can someone explain how this is money laundering?

Disguised bribery as a sale for value, at an inflated valuation. Classic trade-based money laundering. It had all the elements too: placement, layering, and integration.

So in this case, who’s laundering the money? Does the term “laundering” mean that you are taking money earned illegally and converting it to untraceable clean money or is that just the movie description? Because it doesn’t sound like the guy who bought the house did so with illegally earned money.

No, read the section at the end of the article. The dad donated $1 million to a fencing foundation. That foundation in turn donated $100K to a charity newly created by the Harvard fencing coach. The dad's older son was subsequently admitted to Harvard. The Harvard fencing coach's charity only lasted a couple of years after the donation, which could suggest that it was set up for the sole purpose of laundering money.

That’s money laundering? Isn’t that how foundations work?

No. Bribery is not a valid "charitable purpose."

Whether or not this one turns out to be a legal problem, I am guessing there are a ton of variations on the theme and more to come over the next few years. Have to be more than a handful of DMV parents doing some sole searching ...

No doubt.

[Anonymous]

For those who keep saying his son would have been admitted anyway, you should look at the statistics for Asian students who are accepted and rejected by Harvard. Having close to a 4.0 gpa and near-perfect SATs might guarantee acceptance for some ethnicities, but not for Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who keep saying his son would have been admitted anyway, you should look at the statistics for Asian students who are accepted and rejected by Harvard. Having close to a 4.0 gpa and near-perfect SATs might guarantee acceptance for some ethnicities, but not for Asians.

Not whites either, let's not forget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who keep saying his son would have been admitted anyway, you should look at the statistics for Asian students who are accepted and rejected by Harvard. Having close to a 4.0 gpa and near-perfect SATs might guarantee acceptance for some ethnicities, but not for Asians.

*1000. I know of an Asian TJ grad with perfect gpa (4.0 unweighted which is extremely tough at TJ and probably top 1% and around 4.6 weighted), 2,390 SAT, Presidential Scholar nominee, NM Scholar, ton of leadership positions, lot of volunteering, extensive research, prestigious internship over the summer, TV show appearance, scholastic writing award, chemistry Olympiad finals, etc. etc. and was rejected by Harvard due to no legacy, no connection, no donation, seeking financial aid (not full pay) etc. Completely rigged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who keep saying his son would have been admitted anyway, you should look at the statistics for Asian students who are accepted and rejected by Harvard. Having close to a 4.0 gpa and near-perfect SATs might guarantee acceptance for some ethnicities, but not for Asians.

Not whites either, let's not forget.

Wait, let me find my itty bitty, tiny violin for you.

[Anonymous]

So STA has parents who bribe universities and SFS has parents who call university admissions to blackball other kids? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was always really baffled by the couples where the guy was a super duper high flyer from an Ivy League school and the second or third trophy wife was very beautiful but not exactly an intellect, and they ended up sending kids to Ivy League schools, all of them were accepted into the gifted program etc.

Given that intellect is largely inherited, it just seemed . . . odd that these dudes would have kids who were more successful than the offspring of two Ivy League educated doctors or two Ivy League educated lawyers, etc. And even if you believe it's nurture, not nature, it seemed weird that women who watched TV all day and ignored their kids, who didn't pay attention to current events, etc. were producing these "gifted" kids.

It never added up to me. But now things are starting to make sense.

I was one of those people who would have stood there saying "So Billy got a tennis scholarship? That's so weird! We've known them for 20 years and I've never heard them mention tennis! And he's not on the school team!" and then I would have decided that I was crazy since none of that made any sense. Nice to know it's them, not me.

Or, you work with them and realize that their Ivy League education has nothing to do with how much they can contribute to the work environment.

[Anonymous]

Have to be more than a handful of DMV parents doing some sole searching ...

For gum that is stuck to their shoe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who keep saying his son would have been admitted anyway, you should look at the statistics for Asian students who are accepted and rejected by Harvard. Having close to a 4.0 gpa and near-perfect SATs might guarantee acceptance for some ethnicities, but not for Asians.

*1000. I know of an Asian TJ grad with perfect gpa (4.0 unweighted which is extremely tough at TJ and probably top 1% and around 4.6 weighted), 2,390 SAT, Presidential Scholar nominee, NM Scholar, ton of leadership positions, lot of volunteering, extensive research, prestigious internship over the summer, TV show appearance, scholastic writing award, chemistry Olympiad finals, etc. etc. and was rejected by Harvard due to no legacy, no connection, no donation, seeking financial aid (not full pay) etc. Completely rigged.

Wait a minute. How do you know it was due to that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was always really baffled by the couples where the guy was a super duper high flyer from an Ivy League school and the second or third trophy wife was very beautiful but not exactly an intellect, and they ended up sending kids to Ivy League schools, all of them were accepted into the gifted program etc.

Given that intellect is largely inherited, it just seemed . . . odd that these dudes would have kids who were more successful than the offspring of two Ivy League educated doctors or two Ivy League educated lawyers, etc. And even if you believe it's nurture, not nature, it seemed weird that women who watched TV all day and ignored their kids, who didn't pay attention to current events, etc. were producing these "gifted" kids.

It never added up to me. But now things are starting to make sense.

I was one of those people who would have stood there saying "So Billy got a tennis scholarship? That's so weird! We've known them for 20 years and I've never heard them mention tennis! And he's not on the school team!" and then I would have decided that I was crazy since none of that made any sense. Nice to know it's them, not me.

Maybe you're just bad at judging the intellect of beautiful women.