He brought celebrity offspring to Yale and Co
Mastermind behind elite university fraud goes to jail
Rich and prominent parents who wanted to pave the way for their children to elite universities turned to him. William “Rick” Singer was the mastermind behind the largest college admissions scam in the United States. Now he has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.
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William “Rick” Singer is behind America’s largest college admissions scam.
He was the go-to place for the rich who wanted their kids to attend elite universities. He created the “side doors”, as he himself once put it, when the front door wasn’t enough. In return, he took over $25 million from his clients.
William “Rick” Singer (62) was the mastermind behind the largest college admissions scam in the United States, known as “Operation Varsity Blues”. He shed light on the licensing system, which had long been considered rigged in favor of the rich.
On Wednesday, Singer was one of the latest people in the case to be sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and a $10 million fine in Boston, the Guardian and CNN reported. His prison sentence is the longest imposed in this scandal.
He bribed entrance examiners and college coaches
Singer was the owner of the college consulting firm called The Key. To get the kids into the elite colleges, he could either pay examiners for standardized entrance tests to inflate the students’ test scores. Or he bribed college coaches into calling the kids recruits to improve their chances of getting into school. Even if the children don’t even practice this sport.
The bribes would usually go to Singer’s bogus charity called Key Worldwide Foundation, so the parents could disguise the payments as charitable donations and, more conveniently, tax deductible.
However, only part of the $25 million raised was used for the bribe. According to prosecutors, this sum amounts to 7 million dollars. Singer used more than $15 million of his clients’ money for his own benefit.
Singer cooperated with investigators
Singer’s case was uncovered after an employee told authorities about a corrupt Yale soccer coach. The coach’s trail led to Singer.
However, in 2018 he began to work secretly with the investigators. He voluntarily recorded hundreds of phone calls and carried a microphone with him when meeting with customers or partners. In this way the whole system could be uncovered. But his cooperation wasn’t perfect, according to prosecutors, because he warned several of his clients.
Parents and coaches also condemned
When the case broke in 2019, Singer pleaded guilty. “To be honest, I’m ashamed of myself,” he said. He also apologized to his family, students and schools.
In addition to Singer, “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin (58), her husband and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli (59) and “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman (60) were sentenced to up to 25 months in prison in 2019. Former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst was also sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for taking more than $3 million in bribes. (hey)