BOSTON – The former head coach of the men’s tennis team at the University of Texas at Austin (U-Texas) was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with accepting a $100,000 bribe to secure the admission of a purported student-athlete to the university.

Michael Center, 55, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced to six months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $60,000.

The government recommended a sentence a six months in prison, one year of supervised release, payment of a $20,000 fine and forfeiture in the amount of $60,000. In April 2019, Center pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Beginning in 2014, Center agreed with William “Rick” Singer and Martin Fox, the former president of a private tennis academy in Texas, to accept a $100,000 bribe in exchange for designating the child of one of Singer’s clients as a recruited student athlete at U-Texas. On Nov. 23, 2014, Singer emailed the student’s high school transcript and application essays to Fox, who forwarded them to Center. Center emailed the materials to the administrator in the U-Texas athletics department so that the student, who did not actually play tennis competitively, would be coded as a student-athlete. In March 2015, Center informed the student’s father that U-Texas would be sending the student a letter of intent for a “books” scholarship, which provides funding for a student’s textbooks, as part of the athletic recruitment process. In April 2015, the student returned a signed “letter of intent” to play tennis for U-Texas, and, at Center’s instruction, was added to the team roster and then admitted to U-Texas. The student’s father made three separate donations of stock totaling $631,564 to Singer’s sham charitable organization, the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF). Singer paid Center $60,000 in cash and $40,000 to the U-Texas tennis program.

In November 2019, Fox pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 14, 2020.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A Chinese woman who resides in Canada agreed to plead guilty today in federal court in Boston to using bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate her son’s admission to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as a purported soccer recruit.

Xiaoning Sui, 48, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, agreed to plead guilty to one count of federal programs bribery before U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock, who scheduled sentencing for May 19, 2019. Sui has been detained in Spain since her arrest there on Sept. 16, 2019. Sui was extradited to Boston for today’s plea hearing.

Sui agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $400,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit. During a phone call in August 2018, Singer explained to Sui that he would write Sui’s son application in a “special way” that would guarantee his admission to UCLA, in exchange for $400,000. Between September and October 2018, Singer facilitated the transfer of Sui’s son’s transcript to the head coach of men’s soccer at UCLA, who allegedly designated Sui’s son as a recruited student-athlete. 

On Oct. 24, 2018, Singer instructed Sui to wire Singer $100,000 which would be “paid to the coach at UCLA” in exchange for a letter of intent from the UCLA soccer coach recruiting Sui’s son onto the soccer team. Two days later, Sui wired the $100,000 to a bank account in Massachusetts in the name of Singer’s sham charitable organization, Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF).

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. According to the plea agreement, the parties will recommend a sentence of time served (approximately five months in prison), one year of supervised release, a fine and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – The former chief executive officer of PIMCO, one of the world’s largest asset companies, was sentenced to nine months in prison today for paying bribes totaling $850,000 to secure his children’s admission to the University of Southern California (USC) and Georgetown University (Georgetown).

Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to nine months in prison, two years of supervised release and 500 hours of community service. Judge Gorton also ordered Hodge to pay a fine of $750,000. The government recommended a sentence of 24 months in prison.

In October 2019, Hodge pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Hodge conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay bribes totaling $850,000 to secure the admission of two of his children to USC and two of his children to Georgetown over a period of nearly 11 years. He also sought unsuccessfully to use bribes to secure the admission of a fifth child to Loyola Marymount University (LMU).

Beginning in fall 2008, Hodge agreed to pay Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst to purport to recruit his daughter as a tennis player, thereby facilitating her admission to the university. In turn, Hodge paid Ernst $150,000. From 2010 to 2011, Hodge repeated the fraud for his son, who also did not play competitive tennis. After his son was admitted to Georgetown, Hodge paid Ernst $175,000.

Beginning in 2012, Hodge agreed to pay a total of $525,000 to facilitate another daughter’s admission to USC as a purported soccer recruit and another son’s admission to USC as a purported football recruit.

In 2018, Hodge returned to Singer to facilitate a third son’s admission to LMU. In December 2018, however, an LMU coach told Singer that Hodge’s son would be denied admission to the university based on his academic qualifications.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

BOSTON – A California woman pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with paying $9,000 to have an individual take online classes for her son, in order to earn credits to facilitate his graduation from Georgetown University.

Karen Littlefair, 57, of Newport Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for May 13, 2020.

Littlefair agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay approximately $9,000 to have an employee of Singer’s for-profit college counseling business, The Edge College & Career Network (“The Key”), take online classes in place of Littlefair’s son and submit those fraudulently earned credits to Georgetown to facilitate his graduation. The Key employee allegedly completed four classes for Littlefair’s son at Georgetown and elsewhere, and in exchange, Littlefair paid Singer’s company approximately $9,000. Littlefair’s son graduated from Georgetown, using the credits earned by the Key employee, in May 2018.  

Singer previously pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of four months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $9,500 and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed not guilty unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A California woman will plead guilty to charges filed today alleging that she paid $9,000 to have an individual take online classes for her son, in order to earn credits to facilitate his graduation from Georgetown University.

Karen Littlefair, 57, of Newport Beach, Calif., will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of four months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $9,500 and restitution.

According to the charging documents, Littlefair agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay approximately $9,000 to have an employee of Singer’s for-profit college counseling business, The Edge College & Career Network (“The Key”), take online classes in place of Littlefair’s son and submit those fraudulently earned credits to Georgetown to facilitate his graduation. The Key employee allegedly completed four classes for Littlefair’s son at Georgetown and elsewhere, and in exchange, Littlefair paid Singer’s company approximately $9,000. Littlefair’s son graduated from Georgetown, using the credits earned by the Key employee, in May 2018.  

Singer previously pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed not guilty unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Martin Fox, the former president of a private tennis academy in Texas, pleaded guilty today in connection with his involvement in a scheme to use bribery to facilitate the admission of applicants to selective colleges and universities.

Fox, 62, of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Feb. 14, 2020. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guidelines, one year of supervised release, a fine and restitution.

In 2015, Fox introduced co-conspirator William “Rick” Singer to Michael Center, a tennis coach at the University of Texas (U-Texas). Center facilitated the admission of a son of one of Singer’s clients to U-Texas as a purported tennis recruit in exchange for a bribe. In return for assisting with the bribe transaction, Singer paid Fox $100,000.

Between 2015 and 2018, Fox also agreed with Singer and others to facilitate cheating on the ACT and SAT college entrance exams. Fox funneled bribe payments from Singer to Niki Williams, a test administrator for the ACT and SAT, for four of Singer’s clients. In exchange, Williams allowed someone else to purportedly proctor the exams, despite knowing that this person was not proctoring the exam consistent with ACT and SAT requirements. Singer typically paid Fox $25,000 per exam, a portion of which Fox funneled to Williams.

Williams has pleaded not guilty. The charges against her are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney, of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, and Carol Head, of Lelling Asset Recovery Unit, are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – The former director of a private elementary and high school in West Hollywood, Calif. pleaded guilty today in the college admissions case.

Igor Dvorskiy, 53, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering before U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who scheduled sentencing for Feb. 7, 2020. Dvorskiy is cooperating with the government’s investigation. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence at the low end of the Sentencing Guidelines, one year of supervised release and a fine.

Dvorskiy administered the SAT and ACT exams at the private school in Los Angeles where he worked. In exchange for bribe payments directed to him by co-conspirator William “Rick” Singer – typically $10,000 per student – and in violation of his duty of honest services to the ACT and the College Board, Dvorskiy allowed another co-conspirator, typically Mark Riddell, to purport to proctor the ACT and SAT exams for the children of Singer’s clients, and to replace exam answers with corrected answers. Dvorskiy then returned the falsified exams to the ACT and College Board for scoring. Singer and Riddell previously pleaded guilty and are also cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.           

The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A California businessman became the 12th parent to be sentenced in the college admissions case.  

Jeffrey Bizzack, 59, of Solana Beach, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to two months in prison, three years of supervised release, 300 hours per year of community service, and ordered to pay a fine of 250,000. In July 2019, Bizzack pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of nine months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $75,000.

Beginning in 2017, Bizzack agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay $250,000 to have his son admitted the University of Southern California (USC) as a volleyball recruit, even though his son did not play competitive volleyball. As part of the scheme, co-conspirator Laura Janke falsified an athletic profile for Bizzack’s son, which depicted him as a nationally ranked volleyball player, and included the photograph of another individual playing volleyball.

In October 2017, a USC athletics administrator, Donna Heinel, secured approval from the USC subcommittee for athletic admissions to admit Bizzack’s son. In December 2017, Bizzack issued a $50,000 check to USC’s “Galen Center” – a restricted account that operated under Heinel’s oversight.

USC mailed Bizzack’s son a formal acceptance letter in March 2018. Bizzack subsequently mailed a $100,000 check to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF). In April 2018, he sent a second check to KWF in the amount of $50,000 and had his company wire another $50,000 to KWF.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON –  A California woman became the 11th parent to be sentenced in the college admissions case.

Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to three weeks in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a fine of $40,000. In May 2019, Buckingham pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of six months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $40,000.

Beginning in 2018, Buckingham agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay $50,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for her son. As part of the scheme, Buckingham made arrangements for her son to take the ACT at a test center in Houston, Texas, that Singer “controlled” through a corrupt test administrator, and for his answers to be corrected by co-conspirator Mark Riddell, who would purport to proctor the exam. Two days prior to the scheduled exam date, a physician advised Buckingham that her son could not fly to Houston due to a medical condition. Buckingham, in turn, asked Singer if it would be possible for Riddell simply to take the test in his place while she administered a fake exam to her son at her home in Los Angeles.

On July 14, 2018, Riddell completed the ACT exam by himself in a Houston hotel room. Three days later, Buckingham make a purported charitable donation of $35,000 to Singer’s sham charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, to pay for the fraud, and advised Singer that she intended to have her former husband pay the remaining $15,000. In October 2018, Buckingham told Singer that she wanted to pursue the scheme again for her daughter. Ultimately, Buckingham was arrested before she had the opportunity to engage in the fraud a second time.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON – A grand jury in the District of Massachusetts has returned additional charges against 11 of the 15 parents charged in the college admissions case.

The new charges in the third superseding indictment allege that 11 defendants – Gamal Abdelaziz, Diane Blake, Todd Blake, Mossimo Giannulli, Elisabeth Kimmell, Lori Loughlin, William McGlashan, Jr., Marci Palatella, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, and Robert Zangrillo – conspired to commit federal program bribery by bribing employees of the University of Southern California (USC) to facilitate their children’s admission. In exchange for the bribes, employees of the university allegedly designated the defendants’ children as athletic recruits – with little or no regard for their athletic abilities – or as members of other favored admissions categories.

In addition to the conspiracy count, one defendant, John Wilson of Lynnfield, Mass., is charged with two counts of substantive federal programs bribery in connection with his efforts to use bribes to secure his children’s admission to Harvard University and Stanford University. As alleged in the indictment, USC, Harvard and Stanford all receive more than $10,000 annually in grants, subsidies or other forms of federal assistance.

Today’s indictment also includes additional charges of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud against four defendants—Joey Chen, William McGlashan, Jr., John Wilson and Robert Zangrillo—in connection with the previously charged scheme to use bribery and other forms of fraud to obtain falsified standardized test scores and admission to elite colleges and universities as purported athletic recruits or members of other favored admissions categories.

The defendants, all of whom were arrested in March 2019, were previously charged with conspiring with William “Rick” Singer and others, to bribe SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker to secretly take college entrance exams in place of their children, or to correct the children’s answers after they had taken the exams. The defendants were also previously charged with conspiring to launder the bribes and other payments in furtherance of the fraud by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation, as well as by transferring money into the United States, from outside the United States, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme.

Arraignment dates have not yet been scheduled. Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. The charge of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The Department of Education, Office of Inspector General provided assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Martin Fox, the former president of a private tennis academy in Texas, will plead guilty in connection with his involvement in a scheme to use bribery to facilitate the admission of applicants to selective colleges and universities.

Fox, 62, of Houston, Texas, will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guidelines, one year of supervised release, a fine and restitution.

In 2015, Fox introduced co-conspirator William “Rick” Singer to a tennis coach at the University of Texas (U-Texas), who facilitated the admission of a student to U-Texas as a purported athletic recruit in exchange for a bribe. In return for assisting with the bribe transaction, Singer paid Fox $100,000. Fox arranged additional similar bribes, on two occasions, with a varsity sports coach at the University of San Diego (USD). Specifically, in exchange for a bribe paid through Fox, the USD coach designated the son of one of Singer’s clients, who did not play the sport, as an athletic recruit for the team, thereby facilitating his admission to USD. Singer paid Fox $100,000 for arranging the bribe. In 2017, in exchange for the promise of another bribe, the varsity coach designated another student as a recruit to manage the coach’s team, thereby facilitating her admission to USD. Although the student ultimately decided not to attend USD, Singer paid the varsity coach $10,000 for his help.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON –  A California real estate developer became the tenth parent to be sentenced in connection with the college admissions case.

Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to one month in prison, one year of supervised release, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $50,000. In May 2019, Flaxman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $40,000.

Beginning in the 2016, Flaxman conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his daughter’s ACT exam corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the score. As part of the scheme, Flaxman took steps to secure extended time for his daughter to take the ACT and to take the exam at a test center in Houston, Texas, that Singer “controlled” through a corrupt test administrator. On Oct. 22, 2016, Flaxman’s daughter and the child of another client of Singer both took the ACT with the assistance of co-conspirator Mark Riddell. Riddell assisted in answering exam questions and instructed the students to answer different questions incorrectly so that the ACT would not suspect cheating. As a result of the cheating scheme, Flaxman’s daughter received a score of 28 out of 36 on the exam.

Two days prior to the exam, Flaxman made a purported charitable donation of $75,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation, to pay for the fraud. Thereafter, Flaxman deducted the bribe payment from his income taxes, thereby defrauding the IRS.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON –  A California woman became the ninth parent to be sentenced in connection with the college admissions case.

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to three weeks in prison, one year of supervised release, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $9,500. In May 2019, Klapper pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of four months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $20,000.

“This defendant paid $15,000 to arrange for her son to cheat on the ACT and then falsely claimed on his college applications that he was Black or Latino,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Ms. Klapper thereby not only corrupted the standardized testing system, but also specifically victimized the real minority applicants already fighting for admission to elite schools. We respectfully disagree that a three-week sentence is a sufficient sanction for this misconduct.”

Beginning in the 2017, Klapper conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have her son’s ACT exam corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the score. As part of the scheme, Klapper took steps to secure extended time for her son to take the ACT and to take the exam at a test center in West Hollywood that Singer “controlled” through the center’s corrupt administrator, Igor Dvorskiy. After Klapper’s son completed the exam on Oct. 28, 2017, co-conspirator Mark Riddell corrected his answers. As a result of the cheating scheme, Klapper’s son received a score of 30 out of 36 on the exam. In November 2017, Klapper made a purported charitable donation of $15,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation to pay for the fraud.

In addition, Klapper conspired with Singer to falsify her son’s college applications by claiming that he was African-American and of Hispanic/Latino origin in an attempt to further improve his odds of admission by claiming minority status. Klapper also falsely represented that neither she nor her husband had attended college in order to bolster her son’s college prospects.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

BOSTON –  A California man became the eighth parent to be sentenced today in connection with the college admissions case.

Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to one year of probation, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $9,500. In May 2019, Sartorio pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of one month in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $9,500.

Beginning in the spring of 2017, Sartorio conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his daughter’s ACT exam corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the score. As part of the scheme, Sartorio took steps to secure extended time for his daughter to take the ACT, which allowed her to take the exam at a test center in West Hollywood that Singer “controlled” through the center’s corrupt administrator, Igor Dvorskiy. After Sartorio’s daughter completed the exam on June 10, 2017, without using the extra time she had been allotted, co-conspirator Mark Riddell corrected her answers. As a result of the cheating scheme, Sartorio’s daughter received a score of 27 out of 36 on the exam, which placed her in the 86th percentile. Sartorio paid Singer $15,000 in cash, structuring the cash withdrawals in three smaller increments over several days to avoid bank reporting requirements.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON –  A husband and wife were sentenced to prison today for paying $125,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for their daughter.

Gregory Abbott, 68, and Marcia Abbott, 59, of New York, N.Y., were each sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to one month in prison, one year of supervised release, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and to each pay a fine of $45,000. In May 2019, the Abbotts pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended that the Abbotts each be sentenced to eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $40,000.

Beginning in 2018, Gregory and Maria Abbott conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have their daughter’s ACT exam and SAT II subject tests corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the scores. In April 2018, Gregory Abbott wired $50,000 to Singer’s sham charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF), to pay for the scheme. Later that month, the Abbotts’ daughter took the ACT exam at a test center in West Hollywood that Singer “controlled” through the center’s corrupt administrator. After the Abbotts’ daughter completed the exam, defendant Mark Riddell corrected her answers. As a result of the cheating scheme, the Abbotts’ daughter received a fraudulent score of 35 out of 36 on the exam.

In June 2018, the Abbotts arranged with Singer for someone to correct her daughter’s answers on the SAT subject tests to increase her score. The Abbotts then paid $75,000 to KWF. In October 2018, the Abbotts’ daughter took the exams, again at the West Hollywood test center, and again, Riddell corrected her answers. As a result of the scheme, the Abbotts’ daughter received a perfect score of 800 on the math subject test and 710 on the literature test.

The Abbotts are the 6th and 7th parents to be sentenced in the college admissions case. Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.     

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON –  A Californian vintner was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for paying $50,000 to have his daughter’s SAT scores artificially inflated, and agreeing to another $250,000 to have her fraudulently recruited to the University of Southern California (USC) as a water polo player.

Agustin Francisco Huneeus, 53, of San Francisco, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to five months in prison, two years of supervised release, ordered to complete 500 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $100,000. In May 2019, Huneeus pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of 15 months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $95,000.

Beginning in 2017, Huneeus conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his daughter’s college entrance exam corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the score. Over the course of several months, Huneeus took steps to facilitate the scheme, including securing extended time for his daughter to take the SAT, lying to her high school guidance counselors, and arranging for her to take the exam at a test center in West Hollywood that Singer “controlled” through the center’s corrupt administrator. In March 2018, Huneeus’s daughter took the SAT with the help of co-conspirator Mark Riddell, thereby receiving an artificially higher score. The following month, Huneeus made a purported contribution of $50,000 to Singer’s shame charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, to pay for the scheme.

Huneeus was not happy with the results of the fraudulent exam scheme, and considered pursuing it on two more occasions. Ultimately, Huneeus decided to use the college recruitment scheme to guarantee his daughter’s admission to USC. During a call intercepted by a court-authorized wiretap, Singer explained the recruitment scheme in detail and the cost to Huneeus. In September 2018, Singer sent Donna Heinel, the senior athletic director at USC, an email with Huneeus’s daughter’s high school transcript, fraudulent SAT score, a fabricated athletic profile, and a photograph that was intended to appear to be Huneeus’s daughter playing water polo. In November 2018, Heinel emailed Singer a conditional acceptance letter for Huneeus’s daughter stating that she was admitted to USC as a water polo player. Later that month, Huneeus sent a $50,000 check to Heinel purportedly for the “USC Women’s Athletics Board.” Ultimately, Huneeus was arrested before making the final agreed-up payment of $200,000 to Singer.

Co-defendants Felicity Huffman, Devin Sloane, Stephen Semprevivo, and Gordon Caplan were previously sentenced to two weeks, four months, four months, and one month in prison, respectively.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.      

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.    

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON –  The former co-chairman of a global law firm became the fourth parent to be sentenced to prison in connection with his involvement in the college admissions case.

Gordon Caplan, 53, of Greenwich, Conn., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to one month in prison, one year of supervised release, ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $50,000. In May 2018, Caplan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

The government recommended a sentence of eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $40,000.

Beginning in 2018, Caplan conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his daughter’s college entrance exam corrected, thereby fraudulently inflating the score. During a June 2018 phone call, Caplan and Singer discussed the scheme and the cost. Over the next several months, Caplan took steps to facilitate the scheme, including securing extended time for his daughter to take the ACT and arranging for her to take the exam at a test center in West Hollywood that Singer “controlled” through the center’s corrupt administrator. During a phone call with Singer that was intercepted pursuant to a Court-authorized wiretap, Caplan noted that he was “not worried about the moral issues here.” Caplan ultimately made payments totaling $75,000 to Singer’s sham charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, to pay for the scheme.

Co-defendants Felicity Huffman, Devin Sloane, and Stephen Semprevivo were previously sentenced to two weeks, four months, and four months in prison, respectively.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON –  A California man became the third parent to be sentenced to prison today in connection with his involvement in the college admissions case.

Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to four months in prison, two years of supervised release, 500 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a fine of $100,000. The Court may offset the fine with restitution to be determined at a later hearing. In May 2018, Semprevivo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The government recommended a sentence of 13 months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $95,000, and restitution of $105,341.

Semprevivo conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his son admitted to Georgetown University as a tennis recruit, even though his son did not play competitive tennis. As part of the scheme, Semprevivo involved his son as an active participant in the scheme by having him send emails to defendant Gordon Ernst, the Georgetown tennis coach, expressing interest in playing tennis at Georgetown. By April 2016, Semprevivo’s son had been formally admitted to Georgetown and Semprevivo made a purported contribution of $400,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation. From that account, Singer paid Ernst hundreds of thousands of dollars for facilitating the fraudulent recruitment of Semprevivo’s son to Georgetown as a tennis recruit.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, co-defendant Devin Sloane was sentenced to four months in prison, and earlier this month co-defendant Felicity Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in prison.

Ernst is charged by indictment with racketeering conspiracy, and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.  

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON –  A California businessman became the second parent to be sentenced to prison today in connection with his involvement in the college admissions case.

Devin Sloane, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to four months in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to complete 500 hours of community service and pay a fine of $95,000. Sloane is the chief executive officer of AquaTecture, LLC, a privately held Los Angeles-based company involved in the water and wastewater industries. In May 2019, Sloane pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The government recommended a sentence of one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $75,000.

Sloane conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to have his son admitted to the University of Southern California (USC) as a water polo recruit, even though his son did not play water polo. As part of the scheme, Sloane purchased water polo gear online, and photographed his son purporting to play water polo in the family swimming pool, later hiring a graphic design firm to manipulate the photos to make them appear more realistic. Sloane made a purported contribution of $200,000 to Singer’s sham charity, Key Worldwide Foundation, and a $50,000 payment to USC Women's Athletics, a fund controlled by defendant Donna Heinel.  

Previously, the first parent sentenced in the case, Felicity Huffman, was sentenced to two weeks in prison for her involvement in the scheme. 

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.          

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON – The 52nd defendant charged in the college admissions case, Xiaoning Sui, was charged in a superseding indictment today with international money laundering and conspiring to commit fraud and federal programs bribery in connection with a scheme to facilitate her son’s admission to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as a purported soccer recruit.

Xiaoning Sui, 48, a Chinese national residing in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, was charged in an superseding indictment today with an expanded conspiracy charge, two counts of money laundering and three counts of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. Sui was arrested on an indictment last week in Spain on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Sui is currently detained pending her extradition to Boston.

According to the indictment, Sui agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $400,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit, even though he did not play soccer competitively. As a result of the scheme, Sui’s son was admitted to UCLA in November 2018, and awarded a 25 percent tuition scholarship.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, honest services mail fraud and federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The mail fraud, honest services mail fraud, and money laundering charges each carry a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

BOSTON – Spanish authorities arrested a Chinese woman last night in connection with her role in using bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate her son’s admission to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as a purported soccer recruit.

Xiaoning Sui, 48, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, was arrested in Spain and charged in an indictment unsealed today in federal court in Boston with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Sui is currently detained in Spain, and authorities will seek her extradition to Boston to face charges.

According to the indictment, Sui agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $400,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit. It is alleged that during a phone call in August 2018, Singer explained that Sui’s son could be “guaranteed” admission to UCLA, in exchange for $400,000. Between August and October 2018, Sui allegedly provided Singer with her son’s transcript and photographs of her son playing tennis. Co-conspirator Laura Janke then fabricated a soccer profile for Sui’s son, which described him as a top player for two private soccer clubs in Canada. On Oct. 24, 2018, Singer instructed Sui to wire Singer $100,000 which would be “paid to the coach at UCLA” in exchange for a letter of intent from the UCLA soccer coach. Two days later, Sui allegedly wired $100,000 to a bank account in Massachusetts in the name of Singer’s sham charitable organization, the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF). On Nov. 5, 2018, UCLA admitted Sui’s son as a recruited soccer player, and awarded him a 25% scholarship. In February 2018, Sui allegedly wired an additional $300,000 to the KWF account as final payment for her son’s fraudulent admission to UCLA. 

Janke previously pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A California businessman has pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme to use bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate his son’s admission to the University of Southern California (USC) as a purported athletic recruit.

Jeffrey Bizzack, 59, of Solana Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Oct. 30, 2019. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of nine months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $75,000 and restitution. Bizzack was charged in June 2019.

According to the charging documents, Bizzack agreed with William “Rick” Singer and others to pay an amount, ultimately totaling $250,000, to facilitate the admission of Bizzack’s son to USC as a purported volleyball recruit, when in fact he was not.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – A California man will plead guilty to charges in connection with using bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate his son’s admission to the University of Southern California (USC).

Jeffrey Bizzack, 59, of Solana Beach, Calif., will plead guilty to an Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of nine months in prison, one year of supervised release, a fine of $75,000, and restitution.

According to the Information, Bizzack agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $250,000 to facilitate the admission of Bizzack’s son to USC as a purported volleyball recruit. On July 16, 2017, Singer emailed Bizzack asking for his son’s biographical information for the purpose of creating a falsified athletic profile. On July 26, 2017, Bizzack’s son sent Singer his academic transcripts, which Singer then forwarded to Laura Janke, a former USC assistant soccer coach. Janke created a fabricated volleyball profile for Bizzack’s son and sent it to Singer, who forwarded it to the senior associate athletic director at USC. It is alleged that, in October 2017, the USC senior associate athletic director presented Bizzack’s son to the USC subcommittee for athletic admissions as a purported volleyball recruit. In November 2017, Bizzack’s son received conditional admission to USC as a student-athlete, and in March 2018, Bizzack’s son received a formal acceptance letter from USC. Beginning in December 2017, Bizzack sent a $50,000 check to the USC “Galen Center,” and made multiple payments totaling $200,000 to Singer’s purported non-profit corporation. 

According to the Information, in July 2018, Singer began making monthly payments of $20,000 to the senior associate athletic director at USC in exchange for her assistance with facilitating the admission of Bizzack’s son and others.

Janke previously pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Two defendants will plead guilty to charges in connection with using bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate the admission of applicants to selective colleges and universities.

Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., a former assistant coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California (USC), will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering and will cooperate with the government’s investigation. Janke was previously indicted along with 11 other defendants.

Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., a former senior executive at a title insurance company, will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. MacFarlane was previously charged by criminal complaint. 

The defendants were charged in March 2019 with conspiring with William “Rick” Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., and other parents, coaches and university administrators, to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of students to selective colleges and universities and to cheat on college entrance exams. According to court documents, MacFarlane paid $450,000 to facilitate the admission of his children to USC as purported athletic recruits. Specifically, on Oct. 3, 2013, Singer emailed MacFarlane’s daughter’s high school transcript and college exam scores to Janke and another defendant. Soon after, Singer caused a purported charitable organization he established, the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF), to wire $50,000 to a private soccer club controlled by Janke and the other defendant. Using materials provided by MacFarlane and Singer, Janke then created a falsified soccer profile for MacFarlane’s daughter, falsely describing her as a “US Club Soccer All American” in high school. MacFarlane’s daughter was presented to the USC subcommittee for athletic admissions as a purported soccer recruit, and was accepted to USC in March 2014. On May 2, 2014, MacFarlane issued a $200,000 check to the Edge College & Career Network LLC (“The Key”) – Singer’s for-profit college counseling and preparation business – with “Real Estate Consulting & Analysis” written in the memo line. On May 12, 2014, Singer issued a $100,000 payment to the private soccer club which Janke partly controlled.

Similarly, in November 2016, Singer directed Janke to create a falsified basketball profile for MacFarlane’s son. Singer then emailed the profile to a USC administrator to present to the USC subcommittee for athletic admissions as a purported basketball recruit. In February 2017, USC issued a conditional acceptance to MacFarlane’s son as a student-athlete. On Feb. 23, 2017, MacFarlane sent a $50,000 check to USC Athletics, and the following month USC mailed MacFarlane’s son a formal acceptance letter. On April 18, 2017, MacFarlane issued a $200,000 check to KWF with “Real Estate Consulting” written in the memo line.

Plea hearings have not yet been scheduled by the Court. Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and restitution. The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – The test taker in the college admissions case pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with accepting payments to cheat on the ACT and SAT exams, and other tests. 

Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for July 18, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

From 2011 through February 2019, Riddell conspired with William “Rick” Singer and others to cheat on college entrance exams in the United States and Canada. As part of the scheme, Riddell secretly took college entrance exams in place of students, or corrected the students’ answers after they had taken the exam.

In many cases, Singer facilitated the cheating by counseling his clients to seek extended time on the exams, including by having their children purport to have learning disabilities in order to obtain the required medical documentation. Once the extended time was granted, Singer instructed the clients to change the location of the exams to one of two test centers: a public high school in Houston, Texas, or a private college preparatory school in West Hollywood, Calif.  Singer had established relationships at those locations with test administrators Niki Williams and Igor Dvorskiy, who allegedly accepted bribes of as much as $10,000 per test in order to facilitate the cheating scheme. Specifically, Williams and Dvorskiy allowed Riddell to take the exams in place of the students, to give the students the correct answers during the exams, or to correct the students’ answers after they completed the exams. Singer typically paid Riddell $10,000 for each test. Singer’s clients paid him between $15,000 and $75,000 per test, with the payments structured as purported donations to the KWF charity controlled by Singer. In many instances, the students taking the exams were unaware that their parents had arranged for the cheating.

On March 22, 2019, Singer pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. in Boston.

Updated information about this case can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme. 

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

BOSTON – Sixteen parents involved in the college admissions scandal were charged today in Boston in a second superseding indictment with conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to use bribery to cheat on college entrance exams and to facilitate their children’s admission to selective colleges and universities as purported athletic recruits.

The defendants, all of whom were arrested last month on a criminal complaint, are charged with conspiring with William “Rick” Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., and others, to bribe SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker to secretly take college entrance exams in place of students, or to correct the students’ answers after they had taken the exam, and with bribing university athletic coaches and administrators to facilitate the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits. 

The second superseding indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to launder the bribes and other payments in furtherance of the fraud by funneling them through Singer’s purported charity and his for-profit corporation, as well as by transferring money into the United States, from outside the United States, for the purpose of promoting the fraud scheme.

The following defendants were charged in the second superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering:

Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, aka “Gamal Aziz,” of Las Vegas, Nev.;

Diane Blake, 55, of Ross, Calif.;

Todd Blake, 53, of Ross, Calif.;

I-Hsin “Joey” Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif.;

Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, Calif.;

Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.;

Manuel Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.;

Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif.;

Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif.;

Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, Nev.;

Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, Calif.;

William McGlashan, Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif.;

Marci Palatella, 63, of Hillsborough, Calif.;

John Wilson, 59, of Lynnfield, Mass.;

Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif.; and

Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, Fla.

Three parents—David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada; Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.—were previously indicted in connection with the scheme. 

An arraignment date has not yet been scheduled. Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

BOSTON – Thirteen parents charged in the college admissions scandal will plead guilty to using bribery and other forms of fraud to facilitate their children’s admission to selective colleges and universities. One coach also agreed to plead guilty.

The defendants were arrested last month and charged with conspiring with William “Rick” Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., and others, to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of students to colleges and universities. The conspiracy involved bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker to secretly take college entrance exams in place of students, or to correct the students’ answers after they had taken the exam, and bribing university athletic coaches and administrators to facilitate the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits. 

The following defendants were charged in an Information with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and have agreed to plead guilty pursuant to plea agreements:

Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, N.Y., together with his wife, Marcia, agreed to pay Singer $125,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for their daughter;

Marcia Abbott, 59, of New York, N.Y.;

Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $50,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for her son;

Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., agreed to pay Singer $75,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for his daughter;

Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $75,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for his daughter;

Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, Calif., agreed to pay Singer at least $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for her oldest daughter;

Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $300,000 to participate in both the college entrance exam cheating scheme and the college recruitment scheme for his daughter;

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for her son;

Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for his daughter;

Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $400,000 to participate in the college recruitment scheme for his son; and

Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., agreed to pay Singer $250,000 to participate in the college recruitment scheme for his son.

In addition, Bruce Isackson, 61, and Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif., were charged in a separate Information and have both agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Bruce Isackson will also plead guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The Isacksons agreed to pay Singer an amount, ultimately totaling $600,000, to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme for their younger daughter and the college recruitment scheme for both of their daughters. The Isacksons also underpaid their federal income taxes by deducting the bribe payments as purported charitable contributions. The Isacksons are cooperating with the government’s investigation.

Michael Center, 54, of Austin, Texas, the former head coach of men’s tennis at the University of Texas at Austin, was charged in a third Information and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. In 2015, Center personally accepted $60,000 in cash from Singer, as well as $40,000 directed to the University of Texas tennis program, in exchange for designating the child of one of Singer’s clients as a tennis recruit, thereby facilitating his admission to the University of Texas.

All of the defendants who improperly took tax deductions for the bribe payments have agreed to cooperate with the IRS to pay back taxes.

Plea hearings have not yet been scheduled by the Court. Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

BOSTON – The former Yale University women’s soccer coach pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with accepting bribes to facilitate the admission of students to Yale as recruited athletes. 

Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud and one count of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for June 20, 2019 at 2:30 p.m.

From 1995 through November 2018, Meredith was employed as the head women’s soccer coach at Yale University. Beginning in April 2015, Meredith agreed with William “Rick” Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., to accept bribes in exchange for designating applicants to Yale as recruits for the Yale women’s soccer team, and thereby facilitating their admission to the University.

In early November 2017, Singer received an email indicating that an individual wished to make a “donation” to “one of those top schools” for his daughter’s “application.” Singer sent the resume and personal statement of the client’s child to Meredith and stated that he would “revise” the materials to “soccer.” Singer then sent Meredith an athletic “profile” that falsely described the child as the co-captain of a prominent soccer club team in southern California. Meredith subsequently designated the child as a recruit for the Yale women’s soccer team – thereby facilitating her admission to Yale – despite the fact that the child did not play competitive soccer. On Jan. 1, 2018, after the child was admitted to Yale, Singer mailed Meredith a check for $400,000 from the account of his purported charitable organization, Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF). During the summer of 2018, relatives of the applicant paid Singer $1.2 million in multiple installments.

On April 12, 2018, Meredith met with the father of another prospective Yale applicant in a Boston hotel room. During the recorded meeting, Meredith stated that he would designate the child as a recruit for the Yale women’s soccer team in exchange for $450,000. At the meeting, Meredith accepted $2,000 in cash as a partial payment and provided bank account information for future payments.

On March 22, 2019, Singer pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. in Boston.

The charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, and  honest services wire fraud and wire fraud, provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

 

BOSTON – Dozens of individuals involved in a nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits were arrested by federal agents in multiple states this morning and charged in federal court in Boston. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators. 

William “Rick” Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., was charged with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Singer owned and operated the Edge College & Career Network LLC (“The Key”) – a for-profit college counseling and preparation business – and served as the CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF) – a non-profit corporation that he established as a purported charity.

Between approximately 2011 and February 2019, Singer allegedly conspired with dozens of parents, athletic coaches, a university athletics administrator, and others, to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of students to colleges and universities including Yale University, Georgetown University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University, among others. Also charged for their involvement in the scheme are 33 parents and 13 coaches and associates of Singer’s businesses, including two SAT and ACT test administrators.  

Also charged is John Vandemoer, the head sailing coach at Stanford University, Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, the former head soccer coach at Yale University, and Mark Riddell, a counselor at a private school in Bradenton, Fla. 

The conspiracy involved 1) bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow a test taker, typically Riddell, to secretly take college entrance exams in place of students or to correct the students’ answers after they had taken the exam; 2) bribing university athletic coaches and administrators—including coaches at Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Southern California, and the University of Texas—to facilitate the admission of students to elite universities under the guise of being recruited as athletes; and (3) using the façade of Singer’s charitable organization to conceal the nature and source of the bribes.   

College Entrance Exam Cheating Scheme

According to the charging documents, Singer facilitated cheating on the SAT and ACT exams for his clients by instructing them to seek extended time for their children on college entrance exams, which included having the children purport to have learning disabilities in order to obtain the required medical documentation. Once the extended time was granted, Singer allegedly instructed the clients to change the location of the exams to one of two test centers: a public high school in Houston, Texas, or a private college preparatory school in West Hollywood, Calif. At those test centers, Singer had established relationships with test administrators Niki Williams and Igor Dvorskiy, respectively, who accepted bribes of as much as $10,000 per test in order to facilitate the cheating scheme. Specifically, Williams and Dvorskiy allowed a third individual, typically Riddell, to take the exams in place of the students, to give the students the correct answers during the exams, or to correct the students’ answers after they completed the exams. Singer typically paid Ridell $10,000 for each student’s test. Singer’s clients paid him between $15,000 and $75,000 per test, with the payments structured as purported donations to the KWF charity. In many instances, the students taking the exams were unaware that their parents had arranged for the cheating.

College Recruitment Scheme

It is further alleged that throughout the conspiracy, parents paid Singer approximately $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators to designate their children as purported athletic recruits, thereby facilitating the children’s’ admission to those universities. Singer allegedly described the scheme to his customers as a “side door,” in which the parents paid Singer under the guise of charitable donations to KWF. In turn, Singer funneled those payments to programs controlled by the athletic coaches, who then designated the children as recruited athletes – regardless of their athletic experience and abilities. Singer also made bribe payments to most of the coaches personally.

For example, during a call with one parent, Singer stated: “Okay, so, who we are…what we do is we help the wealthiest families in the U.S. get their kids into school…My families want a guarantee. So, if you said to me ‘here’s our grades, here’s our scores, here’s our ability, and we want to go to X school’ and you give me one or two schools, and then I’ll go after those schools and try to get a guarantee done.” 

As part of the scheme, Singer directed employees of The Key and the KWF to create falsified athletic “profiles” for students, which were then submitted to the universities in support of the students’ applications. The profiles included fake honors that the students purportedly received and elite teams that they purportedly played on.  In some instances, parents supplied Singer with staged photos of their children engaged in athletic activity – such as using a rowing machine or purportedly playing water polo.

Tax Fraud Conspiracy

Beginning around 2013, Singer allegedly agreed with certain clients to disguise bribe payments as charitable contributions to the KWF, thereby enabling clients to deduct the bribes from their federal income taxes. Specifically, Singer allegedly instructed clients to make payments to the KWF in return for facilitating their children’s admission to a chosen university. Singer used a portion of that money to bribe university athletic coaches to designate the children as student athletes. Thereafter, Masera or another KWF employee mailed letters from the KWF to the clients expressing thanks for their purported charitable contributions. The letter stated: “Your generosity will allow us to move forward with our plans to provide educational and self-enrichment programs to disadvantaged youth,” and falsely indicated that “no good or services were exchanged” for the donations. Many clients then filed personal tax returns that falsely reported the payment to the KWF as charitable donations.

The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater and restitution. The charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the money laundering. The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of obstruction of justice provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, and of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of 250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Appendix

William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice.  He is scheduled to plead guilty in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel on March 12, 2019, at 2:30 p.m.;

Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering;

Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., the former head women’s soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an Information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud as well as honest services wire fraud;  

John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an Information with racketeering conspiracy and is expected to plead guilty in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel on March 12, 2019, at 3:00 p.m.;

David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sidoo was arrested on Friday, March 8th in San Jose, Calif., and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California yesterday. A date for his initial appearance in federal court in Boston has not yet been scheduled.  

The following defendants were charged in an indictment with racketeering conspiracy:

Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT;

Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women’s tennis at Georgetown University;

William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women’s volleyball coach at Wake Forest University;

Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, Texas, president of a private tennis academy in Houston;

Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., the senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California;

Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California;

Ali Khoroshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California;

Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, Calif., former head coach of men’s soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles;

Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation;

Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California; and

Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, Texas, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

The following defendant was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud:

Michael Center, 54, of Austin Texas, head coach of men’s tennis at the University of Texas at Austin

The following defendants were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, N.Y., the founder and chairman of a food and beverage packaging company;

Marcia Abbott, 59, of New York, N.Y.;

Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, Nev., the former senior executive of a resort and casino operator in Macau, China;

Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, Calif., an executive at a retail merchandising firm;

Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, Calif., an entrepreneur and investor;

Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., the CEO of a boutique marketing company;

Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of an international law firm based in New York City;

I-Hin “Joey” Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry;

Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.;

Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm;

Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, Calif., fashion designer;

Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.;

Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of a publicly traded specialty finance company;

Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of investment management company;

Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, Calif., owner of wine vineyards;

Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm;

Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.;

Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer; 

Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, Nev., owner and president of a media company;

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business;

Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, Calif., an actress;

Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company;

William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at a global equity firm;

Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company;

Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur;

Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams;

Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, Calif., founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems;

John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm;

Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry; and

Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, Fla., founder and CEO of private investment firm.