Fifty wealthy people were charged for participating in the largest college Admission scam in US history the department of justice said. Amongst the charged are high ranking executives of various companies and respected lawyers.
What Is The College Admission Scam Exactly?
According to Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts ringleader of the scam is William Slinger who owns college counseling service called Key Worldwide Foundation and a company called Edge College & Career Network.
According to the investigation slinger instructed parents to get extra time on their entrance exam by getting their children a medical disability certificate. He then told them to choose examination center in Houston or in West Hollywood California where two of his accomplices named Niki Williams, 44, of Houston and Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, California, helped carry out the scam
An accomplice named Riddell, 36yrs would either take an ACT or SAT on behalf of the students allegedly and took a payment of 10,000 dollars per student.
In other cases, he bribed college coaches to shortlist students on the bases of good athletic abilities. He instructed parents to provide him with photoshopped pictures of their children playing that sport with them supporting their kid.
This college admission scam lasted for 7 yrs during which slinger took 25 million dollars in bribes from parents and promised to get their children admitted into reputed universities.
Who Are Amongst The Bribed?
Slinger Took bribes totaling up to 25 million US dollars between 2011 and 2018 and is charged with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice according to the investigations.
Amongst the people allegedly facilitating slinger include two SAT and ACT exam administrators, one exam proctor, a college administrator, and 33 parents and nine coaches at elite schools.
What’s The Universities Response to the Situation?
Majority of the universities declined to comment on the situation when asked. Others assured that strict employment actions would be taken against those involved in facilitating slinger.
The university most adversely hit by the college admission scam is the University of South Carolina. In response to the allegation USC President Wanda M. Austin wrote a letter to the university community assuring that the problem was being addressed.
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