Massive Cheating Scandal to Get Children Admitted to Elite Colleges

+1 for a good comeback. I got a degree from an Ivy in the 1980s after working my butt off, earning only mediocre grades, and missing the Dean's List my last semester by a very small fraction.

I have posted this before but this is a good thread to use again. I have 2 sons who were rejected by several Ivies. They had scores of 35 ACT, 1550 SAT, and ran 1:53-4:12-9:10.

IRS lowers the BOOM wrote:

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/parents-in-college-admissions-scandal-could-see-steep-tax-fines

Despite the headline indicating only fines, there is a very real chance the IRS will prosecute many of them for criminal tax fraud, since most apparently deducted very large amounts which they admitted on wiretaps were not legitimate charitable deductions. Some apparently did it more than once for two or three kids. Would not at all be surprised to see the IRS make an example out of rich people thumbing their nose at the tax code and go for prison time.

Honest services poster wrote:

It's 4 Charity wrote:

The Key Worldwide Foundation helped underprivileged. through a variety of activities

[quote]Pay the Crips and Bloods to play basketball against each other in Los Angeles.

...

Teach homeless people entrepreneurship by hosting a 5K run.

Ill Eagle wrote:

If no money had been exchanged, I don't believe there would be a criminal prosecution.

Pretty amazing FBI is prosecuting these Hollywood people just for donating money to charity.

+1. The only money that was exchanged was in re for charitable purposes (donations). IMO there is no "quid pro quo" because the admissions process is de facto standardless anyway (they can admit whomever they want, and there's no inherent property interest therein, unlike with a granted degree).

Ivy Disappointment wrote:

I have posted this before but this is a good thread to use again. I have 2 sons who were rejected by several Ivies. They had scores of 35 ACT, 1550 SAT, and ran 1:53-4:12-9:10.

The truth is that most companies do not try to hire Ivies, or any top student at to top schools, or top students at middle of the road schools. The reason is simple. Those students want to move up the ladder as quickly as possible. Almost none of them have the ability to solve a real world problem. They are lost because there is not solution in a textbook for them to refer to. Those "top" students are unhappy being team players. They are more likely to quit a job and continue searching for the "perfect" job. Companies needs employees who are happy being team players, and how are willing to wait and learn before moving up the ladder.

Who won the Crips-Bloods B-Ball? (and was BHO there?) wrote:

Honest services poster wrote:

Pretty amazing FBI is prosecuting these Hollywood people just for donating money to charity.

+1. The only money that was exchanged was in re for charitable purposes (donations). IMO there is no "quid pro quo" because the admissions process is de facto standardless anyway (they can admit whomever they want, and there's no inherent property interest therein, unlike with a granted degree).

Did you not read a single article or document? There were many BRIBES paid directly to coaches that didn't get anywhere near a charity. The envelope or briefcase with 100s that was passed to the coach also wasn't declared for income tax purposes.

Sad thing is: college is a place ppl go to, to get *credentials*, to get *employment*...

Of/c not that long along 80%+ of USA ppl worked for *themselves*, rather than sell their labor to others.

It can't be a "bribe" if the other side of the ledger has no intrinsic value. Other interstate commerce may be affected (eg identity of ACT test-takers), but that's a different code, and NOT charged by FBI's Special Agent Laura Smith.

Plus: there were no "suitcases" mentioned in the 26 parental defendants:

BUCKINGHAM agreed to make a purported charitable donation of $50,000 to KWF,

CAPLAN participated in the college entrance exam cheating scheme by making a purported charitable donation of $75,000 to KWF,

the ABBOTTS made a purported charitable donation of $50,000 to KWF

CHEN paid $75,000 to CW-1’s for-profit entity, The Key (guy didn't understand the process?)

the Henriquez Family Trust made a purported contribution of $400,000 to KWF.

McGLASHAN agreed to make a purported donation of $50,000 to KWF

HUFFMAN and her spouse made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 to KWF

KLAPPER made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 to KWF

a payment of $200,000 for ABDELAZIZ’s daughter should be directed to the gift account for the Galen Center,

ABDELAZIZ wired the purported $300,000 contribution to KWF.

On or about April 10, 2017, GIANNULLI wired $200,000 to KWF

On or about February 6, 2018, GIANNULLI wired $200,000 to one of the KWF charitable accounts.

HUNEEUS wired $50,000 as a purported charitable contribution to KWF

ISACKSON transferred 2,150 shares of Facebook, Inc. stock, having a value of approximately $251,249, to KWF.

On or about June 21, 2017, BRUCE ISACKSON caused shares of stock having a value of approximately $101,272 to be transferred to KWF.

ZANGRILLO wired $200,000 to one of the KWF charitable accounts.

Why is the FBI/IRS purportedly so against charities?

Are you really that dense, or just trolling? Seriously, read the charging documents where they have 200 pages of wire tap transcripts of the parents discussing how the payments were going to be structured, and what they were getting in return (falsified test scores and admission to universities)... most of which was refundable if the kid didn’t get in. This was not a charity they were “donating” to, as was admitted to many times on the wiretaps, usually accompanied by laughter.

“I’m seeing the value of my education drop and the reputation we worked so hard for get tarnished day by day, and that’s a shame,” said former student body President Rini Sampath, who graduated in 2016. “It’s clear that there’s a culture of corruption at USC and I personally am glad it is being exposed.”

USC’s board chairman, Rick Caruso, a billionaire whose children have attended the university, said he personally knew two families in which parents were charged.

“I’m shocked by it. I am really so legitimately saddened for the kids,” Caruso said. “It’s an unthinkable act.”

When Lynn Swann was hired out of nowhere to become USC’s athletic director in April 2016, his lack of major college administrative experience was brushed away with a promise. C.L. Max Nikias, then USC’s president, pledged that Swann would bring, “the heart and soul of a Trojan to his position.’’

After three years, it is a promise broken. With two scandals that drew FBI investigations having occurred under Swann’s careless and chaotic watch, the Trojans heart has been damaged, its soul tainted, and it’s time for a change.

In the wake of news that his program endorsed the admittance of fake athletes, it’s time for USC to retire Lynn Swann and find a real athletic director.

Swann needs to go, now, for the sake of a world-class university with an otherwise sterling academic reputation that has been soiled by an athletic director who behaves like a dummy.

Athletics used to be one of the school’s major selling points. It’s now an embarrassment.

The national success of Trojans teams used to attract the smartest of kids longing to study at the coolest of places.

More like the heart and soul of a used Trojan. What a joke of a school they have become.

Unthinkable only when directed wrote:

USC’s board chairman, Rick Caruso, a billionaire whose children have attended the university, said he personally knew two families in which parents were charged.

“I’m shocked by it. I am really so legitimately saddened for the kids,” Caruso said. “It’s an unthinkable act.”

Here’s one of the families he knew...

Unthinkable only when directed wrote:

USC’s board chairman, Rick Caruso, a billionaire whose children have attended the university, said he personally knew two families in which parents were charged.

“I’m shocked by it. I am really so legitimately saddened for the kids,” Caruso said. “It’s an unthinkable act.”

Next we’ll find out Caruso’s kids only got in because he donated a building, or because Admissions knew he was a billionaire whom they could expect big donations from...

That is probably true because it is legal.

You don't get to be chairman of the board without already donating large sums. He owns the grove...

R. Bush wrote:

Next we’ll find out Caruso’s kids only got in because he donated a building, or because Admissions knew he was a billionaire whom they could expect big donations from...

Although the stuff that has been reported is unlikely to directly affect prominent college athletes (there have been some coaches in niche sports fired), the guy who was taking/correcting tests for the "donors" is the director of college entrance exam preparation at IMG, Mark Riddell. IMG produces scores of high profile recruits every year in football, basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis, golf, etc. They have a track and field program, although I'm not sure how prominent it is.

Every single athlete who has come out of IMG academy has to be under suspicion as to the validity of their test scores.