Feds uncover large-scale college entrance exam cheating plot

[Anonymous]

There must be an East Coast version of this. Can't imagine that this is only in CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The scheme began to fall apart in October last year when the IRS audited Key Worldwide and began to look into donations made by parents whose children were then admitted to USC. "
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6800929/Mastermind-bragged-getting-800-rich-kids-colleges.html

So, this is how s--t hit the fan! The IRS started digging and dug out enough to have this guy wear a wire and sell out his entire clientele.
There will be more names coming out, stay tuned.

That article says Singer bragged about getting 800 rich kids into elite colleges. 800!!!!

[Anonymous]

This was a good, easy to read breakdown of the fraud:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/03/12/felicity-huffman-lori-laughlin-how-college-admissions-scam-worked/3142160002/


Several kids really didn’t know what their parents did for them. Singer said some of the kids thought they scored so well on the test due to their natural abilities and said things to him like “I think I could do even better if I took the test again.” It’s really sad.

Also, one of the sports recruits kids didn’t know. His college counselor asked him how track was going, and the kid had no idea what he was talking about and said he wasn’t an athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There must be an East Coast version of this. Can't imagine that this is only in CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The scheme began to fall apart in October last year when the IRS audited Key Worldwide and began to look into donations made by parents whose children were then admitted to USC. "
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6800929/Mastermind-bragged-getting-800-rich-kids-colleges.html

So, this is how s--t hit the fan! The IRS started digging and dug out enough to have this guy wear a wire and sell out his entire clientele.
There will be more names coming out, stay tuned.

That article says Singer bragged about getting 800 rich kids into elite colleges. 800!!!!

The FBI office in Boston was the one to hold the press conference since Boston was one if the schools impacted. This is nationwide.

[Anonymous]

It is much cheaper than a donation. $10 mil can't even guarantee admissions into an Ivy now. $10 mil will guarantee an elite boarding school though.

Anonymous wrote:One of the parents paid $1.2 M.

That's a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There must be an East Coast version of this. Can't imagine that this is only in CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The scheme began to fall apart in October last year when the IRS audited Key Worldwide and began to look into donations made by parents whose children were then admitted to USC. "
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6800929/Mastermind-bragged-getting-800-rich-kids-colleges.html

So, this is how s--t hit the fan! The IRS started digging and dug out enough to have this guy wear a wire and sell out his entire clientele.
There will be more names coming out, stay tuned.

That article says Singer bragged about getting 800 rich kids into elite colleges. 800!!!!

The articles talk about Georgetown U. Read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be an East Coast version of this. Can't imagine that this is only in CA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The scheme began to fall apart in October last year when the IRS audited Key Worldwide and began to look into donations made by parents whose children were then admitted to USC. "
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6800929/Mastermind-bragged-getting-800-rich-kids-colleges.html

So, this is how s--t hit the fan! The IRS started digging and dug out enough to have this guy wear a wire and sell out his entire clientele.
There will be more names coming out, stay tuned.

That article says Singer bragged about getting 800 rich kids into elite colleges. 800!!!!

The articles talk about Georgetown U. Read?

PP probably means that there is/are probably more “consultants” like Singer here on the East Coast.

[Anonymous]

If the offspring are in college and over 18 then legally they are neither children nor are they kids. They are young adults who it they were black or Hispanic would be treated as such in the press. We had a neighbor kill a family member while in college and I remember being shocked to hear him described as a man at age 19. But legally these are adults who may be complicit in racketeering etc. Not kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Georgetown men’s and women’s tennis coach was kicked out a year ago for “admission irregularities” and ended up as the women’s coach at the U of Rhode Island. He apparently accepted over $2 million over 5 or so years as bribes to let in a couple of kids a year. Apparently, every coach has “slots” available to them for admissions and some saw it as a personal asset. You can bet this is going to get bigger.

And he was lauded by the school for bringing in huge donations for the tennis team. Guess we know where those came from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the offspring are in college and over 18 then legally they are neither children nor are they kids. They are young adults who it they were black or Hispanic would be treated as such in the press. We had a neighbor kill a family member while in college and I remember being shocked to hear him described as a man at age 19. But legally these are adults who may be complicit in racketeering etc. Not kids.

I’m sure many were 17 when their parents did this. So... kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frank Bruni's op ed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/opinion/college-bribery-admissions.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

It may be legal to pledge $2.5 million to Harvard just as your son is applying — which is what Jared Kushner’s father did for him — and illegal to bribe a coach to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but how much of a difference is there, really? Both elevate money over accomplishment. Both are ways of cutting in line.

It may be legal to give $50,000 to a private consultant who massages your child’s transcript and perfumes your child’s essays, and illegal to pay someone for a patently fictive test score, but aren’t both exercises in deception reserved for those who can afford them?

It's not legal to "massage" a transcript (what does this even mean)? Or "perfume" an essay.

I found it interesting that Singer posed this scam as a "side door" for parents, saying that there was the "front door" (earning admission) and the "back door" (donating to the institution & using connections), but that the back door cost 10x more and was not guaranteed.

The

Yes, it is legal to "massage" a transcript. A college counselor can make your volunteering sound really good vs. I did 100 hours at a soup kitchen. Most people have somebody "edit" their kids essay, even if it is a family memeber.

They can't change your grades -- that's what "massage" would mean to me when it comes to a transcript. Proofing is not "perfuming," that wiould be doing some rewriting for the kid which would not be legal.

Massage means picking the right classes and teachers to get the best transcript possible with the highest GPSA. There are consultants that can do that for a kid by school. Perfume is working with a kid starting junior year to develop great essays. There are high level consultants in all major cities that provide those services for $$$. They also cover other test and tutor.... and kids generally get in.

[Anonymous]

Mail fraud statute of limitations if five years so I think most kids who are in school are still within that.

However, some of these 'crimes' may have been committed when the kid was 17, under the age of adulthood for legal purposes. I'm not sure what the rules are for mail fraud in those special cases, but that could have an effect on how they are charged.

[Anonymous]

If you have $10 mil laying around, why not just give that to the kid? Is Yale really that much of a bragging right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the offspring are in college and over 18 then legally they are neither children nor are they kids. They are young adults who it they were black or Hispanic would be treated as such in the press. We had a neighbor kill a family member while in college and I remember being shocked to hear him described as a man at age 19. But legally these are adults who may be complicit in racketeering etc. Not kids.

I’m sure many were 17 when their parents did this. So... kids.

17 y/o should know what dishonesty is ... "kid" or not.

[Anonymous]

As I read this, I wonder how, for example Mossimo Guillani(sp?) got Singer’s name.

Word of mouth from a friend? “I know a guy wo can really help you out with that.” It must be a network of hundreds and hundreds of parents taking ... right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have $10 mil laying around, why not just give that to the kid? Is Yale really that much of a bragging right?

For some of the defendants, I think it is. The chairman of the blue-chip law firm, for example, would likely find it embarrassing if he had to tell his peers that Jr was going to SUNY. And it would also tank his kid's chances or law school or a hedge fund position in the future.