American Elites, University Administrators and Coaches Nailed for Admissions Scam by FBI

Featured Photographs: (Left) Actress Felicity Huffman; (Right) Actress Lorie Loughlin. Both parents are indicted for mail and wire fraud. 

Dozens of  America’s most successful and wealthiest citizens were charged in a nationwide conspiracy that included cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday.

Those involved in paying bribes and those accepting bribes were arrested by federal agents in multiple states this morning and charged in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, according to Newsmax TV host Howie Carr, who worked in Boston as a newsman before becoming a top talk show host.

Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators. (See video at end of news story.)

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

The list below are the names of those elites charged by the FBI agents for their alleged perpetration of mail and wire fraud, both federal felonies. The majority of them are wealthy Americans residing in exclusive areas of California (Beverly Hills, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Laguna Beach, and others), New York City, and Las Vegas.