【Text/Observer Network Xu Lei】
On a March 12 morning in Los Angeles, Felicity Huffman, who won an Emmy award for "Desperate Housewives," ushered in a real-life "desperate" moment at home: FBI agents with guns arrested him.
Behind Hoffman's arrest is actually the largest admissions scandal indicted in U.S. history, with as many as 50 people charged, and the parents of the students involved are either rich or expensive. A number of prestigious U.S. universities have been implicated, including Yale, Stanford and Georgetown, but there is no indication that the schools themselves are involved in illegal acts.
On the 12th, Felicity Hoffman appeared in the court Source: Visual China
According to CNN local time reported on March 13, on the 12th, a lawsuit by the US federal government said that rich and powerful parents paid bribes through a non-profit organization called the Key World Wide Foundation to let their children enter well-known colleges and universities.
A total of 50 people involved have been prosecuted, including 2 SAT/ACT (equivalent to the American "college entrance examination" administrators), 1 invigilator, 9 coaches of elite schools, 1 university administrator and 33 parents, some of whom are Hollywood stars or some are famous business leaders. Prosecutors said there could be more charges.
CNN said it was the largest college admissions scam ever committed in the United States.
The crux of the case is the institution mentioned above, the Key Global Foundation.
Combining foreign media outlets such as the BBC, CNN, The New York Times, Fox, etc., the agency is run by William Singh, a 58-year-old man in California, who uses the agency as a cover to bribe the children of "clients" into prestigious universities. Singh has collected $25 million from parents of students through this "business" over the past few years.
Singh's approach is mainly twofold. One is to help students cheat on tests such as the Academic Proficiency Assessment Test (SAT), and the other is to bribe college sports coaches to get students into colleges and universities as athletes, even if the students have no relevant qualifications or abilities at all.
NBC video screenshot
Singer, who helped a "client" kid get into Yale, paid a $400,000 bribe to Rudy Meredith, then Yale's women's soccer coach, who forged an athlete's profile for the student and admitted him as a newcomer to the women's soccer team, even though the student never played in competitive soccer. A Georgetown University tennis coach took a total of $2.7 million in bribes from Singer between 2012 and 2018.
Singer has also worked with a number of NCAA Division I school coaches to "open the back door" for parents in need, holding pictures of their children's sports or photos of young athletes who have "changed their heads", accompanied by fake materials, and falsified application certificates for sports students.
Photo of the movement used to "open the back door" Image source: Visual China
In most cases, students don't know they were offered because their parents were involved in "bribery," but a few students are aware of it. Prosecutors said the students could face charges in the future.
Singh was charged with extortion, money laundering, defrauding the federal government, and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said he had agreed to plead guilty, saying: "I am responsible for this, I have arranged for everyone".
Singer, who will be sentenced in June, could face up to 65 years in prison and a fine of more than $1 million.
Singh's lawyer, Donald Heller, said after his appearance that "he deeply regrets being involved in the chaos" and is cooperating with investigators.
Heller said Singer has been in the college preparatory business since 1994 and "he helps a lot of people who get into college for free." Heller added, "Sadly, he didn't help Trump's children or he might have been pardoned." ”
According to USA Today, Singer also wrote a book in 2014 called "Getting In: Gaining Admission To Your College of Choice," in which he wrote: "This book is full of secrets."
Cover of the book Source: USA Today
FBI agent Joseph Bonavolonta said the parents spent between $200,000 and $6.5 million to enroll their children in school. Sports coaches at Yale, Stanford, the University of Southern California, Wake Forest University and Georgetown University were all implicated in the case.
The arrests in the huge admissions scandal involved six U.S. states and the cases lasted from 2011 to 2019.
Felicity Hoffman, one of 33 parents, was involved in the bribery scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter by "donating $15,000 to charity," according to the BBC. The second time, she did it for her youngest daughter.
Hoffman appeared in a Los Angeles court later on the 12th and was released on bail after paying $250,000 bail.
Screenshot of the American drama "Desperate Housewives"
In addition, the list of prosecutions includes Lori Loughlin, an actress who is famous for starring in the American drama "House Doctor". She and her fashion designer husband use a second "sports specialty" approach.
According to the indictment, they "agreed to pay a total of $500,000 in exchange for their two daughters being designated as members of the USC rowing team." Of that amount, $100,000 was paid to Donna Heinel, a senior associate athletic instructor at the University of Southern California, and the remaining $400,000 was "donated" to the Key Global Foundation after the child received the acceptance letter.
Both of their daughters are currently studying at the University of Southern California, but after enrolling, lori Lugelin's two "athlete" daughters did not show up on the training ground.
Felicity Hoffman (left) and Lori Lorraine (right) Source: Visual China
At present, many schools have expelled the sports coaches involved. Yale University, Wake Forest University, UCLA, THE University of Southern California, the University of Texas and Georgetown University all issued statements stating they were victims of the conspiracy.
The schools involved Image source: BBC
CNN said the fraud case, in a broader sense, reflects the inequity of the U.S. college admissions system.
Although prosecutor andrew Lynn said, "We're not talking about donating a building, it's fraud." But, according to the report, "if someone buys a building and gets their children into Harvard, not to mention the actions in this case, it's not just that these illegal acts are scandals, but so are the so-called legal means." ”
Wealthy people can donate money to improve their children's schooling opportunities, which trump's son-in-law, Mr. Kushner, was questioned about his admission to Harvard University, even though the Kushner family denied it.
The fact that the rich can get into elite universities so easily, even without appealing fraud, is where the case comes to mind. CNN said the biggest admissions scandal in U.S. history may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Screenshot of the Indian movie "The Starting Line"
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