Rich parents ‘freaking out’ as feds expand college admissions probe
By Ruth Brown
New York Post
May 1, 2019
Prosecutors are targeting more parents in the nationwide admissions scam — and now wealthy families with ties to the scheme’s mastermind are freaking out and lawyering up, according to a new report.
Since busting dozens of moms and dads in the scandal earlier this year — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin — the feds have told at least two other parents in California that they’re now under investigation and have started subpoenaing financial and phone records, according to the New York Times.
Three students have also received letters from prosecutors notifying them they’re targets in the ongoing probe, the paper says.
Meanwhile, many other Los Angeles-area clients of crooked college prep adviser William “Rick” Singer — who haven’t yet heard from prosecutors — are worried they’re next, and some are preemptively hiring lawyers
“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” one LA defense attorney, whose firm represents several parents who haven’t been charged, told the Times.
Some of the uncharged parents are already considering turning themselves in in the hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence, according to the paper.
The scandal has been a boon for defense attorneys in California and Boston, where the case is based, and the lawyers have been sharing details on plea deals and discovery.
Some students at the University of Southern California have also retained lawyers, after the school told them their admission is now under investigation over the scandal — and their attorneys have been meeting almost every day with USC officials, the Times reports.
Thirty-three parents were originally charged in the scheme in March, alongside school officials and Singer himself.
Prosecutors say the parents paid Singer vast sums to help secure their spoiled scions a spot at top colleges — which he achieved by either bribing exam officials to doctor their entrance exams or paying off coaches to name the kids as sham athletic recruits.
Huffman and 12 other parents have agreed to plead guilty, while Loughlin and more than a dozen others pleaded not guilty Monday.
2 comments:
Isn't it time that everyone who ever donated a building or other things to a university start being looked at. I'll wager favors may have been done for their family members by the esteemed institutions of higher learning.
I confess I do not have a lot of problem with public bribery. IF a person wants to donate a new library to get their kid into school and none of it is hidden, I can live with that. Burying it is what pisses me off. A rich person can buy a new Lambo every year. Why can't they buy, or at least rent, a college?
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