Four persons, including Singer, were charged by information, not by indictment and not by complaint. This typically indicates that a plea deal has been reached & that those charged by information are likely to be co-operating witnesses. In return, the co-operating witnesses expect, but are not guaranteed, leniency in sentencing.
@Cariño From reading up on this, the students were “not aware” as the applications were filled out by Singer’s associates and they never saw their own college applications, therefore not aware of the lies on them. However, I would think they know THEY are supposed to be filling them out, not some outside source.
There will be jail time for some. Too big and too high profile.
At the very least tax evasion charges for unreported bribe income (don’t think there’s a special form for that one though) and also anyone who took a charitable deduction for itemized tax returns for fund sent to phony not for profit.
Agree that some will serve jail time. I think the issue about jail time is focused on whether or not any parents will serve time. My best guess is that no jail time will be given to parents with no prior offenses who had a very limited role in this scheme.
The defrauded colleges include every school my daughter an excellent student and track star with stats up the wahoo was rejected from. Go figure!
^^^ There might be some transfer spots opening up…
A lot of schools seem to like kids of celebrities and wealthy people. Dazzled by celebrIty. It is probably a boost even when fraud and bribes are not involved!
@privatebanker re: post #204. I don’t get how a coach can use all his spots for no actual players. Is the assumption he then took walk on’s to make up a full roster? I can see how the get the kids in, I just can’t see how it was not completely obvious to the athletic departments, assistant coaches, counselors…There are so many adults that touch a student athlete.
That doesn’t mean only 4 players received scholarships or that the coach only had 4 sports. The majority of sports allow scholarships to be divided between many athletes and some are only getting 1/8 or even just ‘book money.’ USC is in the Pac-12, so there are also stipends. The coach would have 4 full scholarships, up to the COA, to split. Plenty of money to go around.
Some of these kids may be complicit and some may be dumb enough not to know. In any event, they don’t deserve to be in these colleges. The only effective means to combat corruption are transparency and severe punishment that takes away something the wrongdoers value. Embarrassment just isn’t sufficiently deterrent.
So if they didn’t know but did not fill their application it’s fine? Lol parents helping their kids with the application process is considered fraud here… never filled application, did not take the SAT, did not write the essay and got in… how does that not signal something is wrong to them? Maybe they thought because their parents are known or famous they got accepted poof just like that…
“One of the parents is an associate at a fairly famous law firm. He might not see jail time but he’s sure going to see career consequences.”
Not an associate. Partner at and the chairman of a big law firm in NYC.
Paid $75k to have his kid’s ACT faked. Specifically requested that his kid only get a 32 ACT, since a higher score would raise suspicions. Did it by getting a bogus LD accommodation so that the test could be taken in a location where the bought test proctors could accomplish the fake answers. The kid actually took the test and so did not know that the test would be faked by swapping out answers.
That guy is having a really bad day at the office.
Colleges should just allow accepted kids to sell their spots. Lol.
@sable999 He used all of his spots that received or needed an admissions preference. That was 3 last year. The team could have 12 players or more. And he knew he was leaving to coach URI and didn’t really care if they were a little short for one year. Injuries and changed minds probably happen all the time. Wasn’t even noticed.
@eb23282 When schools admit that “holistic admissions” is a sham, then we can give them a pass on who they admit. But not until then.
Regarding extended time for testing. Depending on your school/district it can be relatively easy to get your child extended time for tests in class. Extended time for standardized tests like SAT and ACT are a whole different story. To get those accommodations you are going to need a paper trail with mental health professionals signing off on false assessments at serious risk of losing their license and livelihood. So yes, I believe it is possible with enough money to buy a disability accommodation and maybe even quickly but you are going to have to have a crooked doctor or two and it takes serious money to both find and pay one.
Great idea. But one twist.
Admissions office admits on pure merit (including athletic merit, etc.). And admitted students can sell their spots through an auction system, but have to split proceeds with the university and admissions office. Cut out the unscrupulous middlemen, and let students monetize their earned admissions.
Maybe poof it will be taken away. I doubt it though. I’m not sure that once the student matriculates on campus that the schools can simply remove them if they are in good standing. But being on the outs with your peers and other classmates may make a student want to transfer… This is going to get ugly for the students still in college I would imagine.
CEO of Pimco Funds. A global leader based in Newport Beach California. arrested in this scam. For paying for D to go to USC. This is no small player. Fidelity and Vanguard big.
Parents had limited role? How? They contracted with this service…and paid to have the deeds done. Right? Are you saying the parents had no idea that the books were being cooked? I don’t believe that.