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2:30

This episode of Swindled may contain graphic descriptions

2:32

or audio recordings of disturbing

2:48

events

2:54

which may not be suitable for all audiences.

2:58

The discretion is advised.

3:01

And this is what I did 30

3:04

years later when I founded WB21. I

3:08

created a product, I created

3:11

a company that is executing

3:15

my vision of changing

3:17

the world, turning the

3:19

financial industry in

3:22

a fairer place where

3:24

people from 180 countries have the

3:27

opportunity to participate

3:30

and get a bank account.

3:33

That's Michael T. Gasthauer, a

3:36

financial technology venture capitalist

3:38

and entrepreneur. He's the kind of guy

3:40

who measures his sleep in minutes instead

3:42

of hours. The kind of guy that tries to

3:45

hack every aspect of his life for

3:47

maximum efficiency. The kind

3:49

of guy who has coined his own personal

3:51

motto, it's your mind that

3:54

creates this world, he says, makes

3:56

sense coming from the kind of guy who lives

3:59

in his own self. self-imagined reality.

4:02

They say Michael Gastower sometimes forgets

4:04

which country he's in because of the constant

4:07

travel, such a workaholic that

4:09

he keeps his clothing options minimal to save

4:11

time. Speaking of time, they

4:14

say Michael T. Gastower's schedule is

4:16

so jam-packed that he wouldn't be able

4:18

to tell you the current date if you ask

4:20

him. Actually, there's a lot

4:22

Michael T. Gastower wouldn't tell you.

4:26

Gastower founded his first company in

4:28

the early 90s at the age of 24 or 26, depending

4:32

on which biography you read. It

4:34

was an asset management business called GNS.

4:38

It was based in Switzerland. And

4:40

publicly, Michael Gastower claims he sold

4:42

GNS five years later for $16 million to

4:44

the Swiss investment

4:46

firm. He claims he used the proceeds

4:48

from that sale to launch a second company

4:51

that he later sold for almost half a billion dollars,

4:54

which he turned into $10 billion in short

4:56

order.

4:56

Michael Gastower claims

4:58

to be one of the wealthiest men in Germany.

5:01

Those claims are dubious. In reality,

5:04

GNS did exist, but it collapsed

5:06

under the weight of a giant scam. Michael

5:09

Gastower had allegedly ripped off investors

5:12

for more than $20 million. Gastower

5:15

even scammed his own business partner, Peter

5:17

Zimmerman, who soon after died by

5:19

suicide. Michael

5:22

Gastower was arrested in 2004 by Swiss authorities. It

5:25

took five more years until he was finally

5:28

convicted of commercial fraud, embezzlement,

5:30

tax fraud, and forgery. A judge

5:33

labeled Gastower a quote, shameless

5:35

parasite, but only handed out an 18

5:37

month suspended prison sentence

5:40

since Gastower had apologized and

5:42

confessed. By then, true

5:45

to his online biographies, Michael

5:47

Gastower had created a second company.

5:50

It was basically a European PayPal

5:53

clone. It was called APAC's Global

5:55

Payments.

5:56

Gastower says he sold it to a Malaysian

5:58

banking group for $480.

5:59

million dollars. No record

6:02

of that sale exists.

6:04

But there is a record of Apex Global

6:06

payments being sued by online

6:09

gambling website Sportsbet in 2011 for not

6:12

delivering the payments that had collected on its

6:14

behalf. Michael Gasthauer publicly

6:16

denied the allegations, dissolved Apex

6:19

Global and then agreed to pay seven million

6:21

dollars to Sportsbet in recompense.

6:24

Well I had a relatively fortunate start

6:27

because when I founded

6:30

WB21 I had already sold my first company

6:32

for 480 million dollars so I

6:34

had the financial backing to

6:37

do the seed funding of WB21. I have invested

6:39

so far over 20 million dollars in

6:41

the company. In 2015

6:46

Michael Gasthauer was back with a new venture

6:48

that he claims he self-funded using

6:50

the proceeds from the undocumented sale

6:53

of Apex Global. Gasthauer

6:55

has declared it his proudest achievement.

6:57

It was called Black Banks, later

7:00

renamed to Web Bank 21st

7:02

Century or WB21.

7:05

I guess X.com

7:07

was already taken. You wake up

7:09

one morning and decide you want to

7:12

revolutionize an 80 trillion dollar

7:15

industry that's out there for

7:17

a few hundred years and where major

7:20

players have covered any

7:22

opportunity and

7:25

I say yes. WB21

7:27

offered

7:29

an alternative to traditional

7:31

banking. It was immediately available

7:33

in 180 countries. Billions

7:36

of people would gain access to financial services

7:38

for the first time thanks to the company's

7:41

proprietary real-time background

7:43

check technology. Signing up only

7:45

took seconds. WB21

7:48

customers could send money locally or

7:50

internationally with minimal fees. WB21

7:53

was also one of the very first banks

7:56

to accept cryptocurrency.

7:58

any

8:01

individual out there that has

8:04

access to the Internet or to a

8:06

smartphone is a potential

8:08

customer for us. So

8:11

our market is the world.

8:14

Our clients are 8 billion.

8:19

When we say today we have 5 million

8:21

customers, it is

8:23

impressive but it's just

8:26

the

8:27

start. WB21 boasted more than 1 million

8:30

customers within the first 10 months. Gostauer

8:33

claimed JP Morgan Chase valued

8:36

his company at 2.2 billion dollars,

8:39

a milestone that took its better-known competitor,

8:41

TransferWise, more than twice as

8:43

long to reach. German

8:46

startup publication Grundurzine

8:48

dug into the numbers after the celebratory announcement

8:51

and found that the WB21 app only

8:54

had 100 downloads on Google's Play

8:56

Store.

8:57

Michael Gostauer personally responded

9:00

to let them know that the majority of customers

9:02

did not use the mobile app, which

9:05

disappeared entirely shortly

9:07

after. WB21 is

9:09

my baby. It's my brainchild.

9:12

I came up with this idea. The

9:14

success of WB21 was undeniable and even more

9:18

so after Michael T. Gostauer

9:21

took home

9:21

the Global Banker Award in 2018.

9:25

Wow

9:25

and look at this beautiful

9:27

award, amazing. An

9:30

award that has not been won by any

9:32

other company before or

9:34

since.

9:35

Because the Global Banker Award is

9:38

not a real thing. WB21

9:40

organized the whole presentation, a

9:43

celebration of oneself with piped-in

9:46

ovation. It seemed

9:48

like Michael T. Gostauer was surrounded

9:50

by phony accolades. The magazine

9:52

covers he's graced prominently

9:55

displayed on his personal website

9:57

are a bit suspect.

9:59

Instagram account has over 2 million followers,

10:02

almost certainly paid bots, there's

10:04

no genuine engagement.

10:06

Furthermore, Gastower's Wikipedia page

10:09

was deleted for citing unreliable

10:12

sources and sponsored posts, and

10:14

most concerning probably was that WB21

10:18

wasn't even an actual bank, stated

10:21

as much in the terms and conditions that customers

10:23

agreed to when opening an account. And

10:27

there were real customers, most

10:29

famously Quadriga CX, the

10:32

largest crypto exchange in Canada,

10:34

whose CEO and founder Gerald Cotton

10:37

died suddenly and mysteriously in 2018

10:39

while traveling in India.

10:42

He held the only key to $250 million

10:46

worth of Bitcoin, which became inaccessible

10:49

overnight. $9 million of

10:51

that $250 million was reportedly

10:53

held in an account at WB21. WB21

10:59

disputed that number and said it held more

11:01

like $11 Canadian

11:03

of Quadriga's stash. The

11:05

bank, quote, provided no further

11:08

information or documentation to support

11:10

its claims, and it stopped cooperating

11:12

with Ernst & Young, the court-appointed

11:15

monitor. When independent

11:17

journalist Amy Caster reported

11:19

on WB21's Quadriga connection,

11:22

the bank's, quote, global head of litigation

11:25

threatened to sue her for defamation.

11:28

In the same vein, financial tech journalist

11:31

Anthony Payton says a, quote, thug

11:33

visited his home address and demanded he

11:36

stop investigating after sending a

11:38

series of questions to WB21 that

11:40

were critical of the company. Yes,

11:43

I mean, we have been very open with those numbers because

11:45

we think it's important you

11:47

are transparent for your for

11:50

the outside world.

11:52

Another one of WB21's 1 million

11:54

satisfied customers was a man

11:56

named Roger Knox, the Rocket,

11:59

as he was known.

11:59

known, ran an asset management company

12:02

based in Switzerland called Wintercap, which

12:04

was eventually revealed to be a core enabler

12:07

of numerous pump and dump schemes. More

12:10

than 50 publicly traded companies, most

12:13

of them shell corporations with no operations,

12:16

secretly transferred massive quantities

12:18

of the owners' stock to Knox and Wintercap,

12:20

who helped promote and inflate the price

12:23

before selling them on the open market like ordinary

12:25

shares. The stock was transferred

12:27

in portions of less than 5% to

12:30

avoid reporting requirements,

12:32

and the directors did not bother to disclose

12:34

to the public that they were selling shares of their

12:36

own company, as required by law.

12:40

Roger Knox collected over $164 million in these penny

12:44

stock sale proceeds. He pocketed

12:46

millions in fees for himself

12:48

and distributed the rest to the company's

12:50

owners via US bank accounts controlled

12:52

by Michael T. Gastower at WB21

12:56

to help disguise the origin of the funds.

12:59

The Securities and Exchange Commission caught on

13:01

by October 2018 and

13:04

froze Roger Knox and Michael Gastower's

13:06

assets. Gastower told the SEC

13:09

that he had no knowledge of Knox's fraud, but

13:11

they fined him $2 million for aiding in

13:14

abetting anyway and seized $15 million

13:17

from the bank accounts in question. Gastower

13:19

was never charged criminally. Roger

13:22

Knox, on the other hand, pleaded guilty

13:24

to securities fraud and conspiracy

13:26

to commit securities fraud. He is

13:29

currently awaiting

13:29

sentencing. The

13:31

owners of those companies involved in the pump

13:34

and dump schemes were in trouble too,

13:36

like this guy.

13:37

It's amazing how many

13:39

ideas, how many solutions

13:42

to problems I come up with that I figure

13:44

out while I'm swimming. It provides me

13:46

that time, uninterrupted time,

13:49

where I could basically think about different

13:52

ideas, different solutions for

13:54

my businesses. That's

13:56

Morrie Tobin, a

13:58

55-year-old Canadian businessman.

13:59

living in Los Angeles with his wife

14:02

and six children. Morrie Tobin

14:04

owned two companies involved in the winter cap

14:07

pump and dumps, cure pharmaceutical

14:10

and environmental packaging technologies.

14:13

Tobin owned and controlled virtually

14:15

all the stock in both companies, and

14:17

then promoted it for sale using false

14:19

promises, which pumped its value. Then

14:22

he cashed in by secretly selling

14:24

massive quantities of the shares he controlled,

14:26

leaving the lured-in investors holding

14:29

a bag of worthless securities and

14:31

crushed dreams.

14:33

For example, for his environmental

14:35

packaging technology company, Morrie

14:37

Tobin organized a $1 million dollar

14:40

email and snail mail advertising

14:42

campaign, promoting the company's groundbreaking

14:45

flexi-tank technology for transporting

14:47

liquids and shipping containers.

14:50

The Trump effect is already creating a buzz

14:52

on Wall Street, the flyer read. His

14:54

dedication to American business could

14:57

soon push shares of environmental packaging

14:59

technologies through the roof, act

15:01

now, and you could grab quadruple

15:04

digit gains. Flexi-tank

15:06

technology could soon return you 1,118% profits

15:08

as America enters

15:12

into a new manufacturing boom. Through

15:16

Roger Knox, Morrie Tobin sold more

15:18

than 200,000 shares of his

15:20

environmental packaging stock on the first

15:23

day of the promotion, June 12, 2017. He

15:27

sold 66,000 more the next day. In

15:30

total, he collected more than $1.5 million in proceeds. In

15:34

reality, environmental packaging had

15:36

no flexi-tank technology or

15:38

Trump effect. It was just a shell

15:41

company that was initially set up as a

15:43

valet parking business. The stock

15:45

price bottomed out

15:46

soon after.

15:49

On June 27, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission

15:51

noticed and halted company trading. Behind

15:54

the scenes at environmental packaging, Morrie

15:56

Tobin and his co-consistent,

15:59

Spiritors were scrambling with Roger Knox

16:02

to conceal their identities, but it was

16:04

too late. The Feds eventually

16:06

pieced it all together. Morrie Tobin's

16:08

house in Los Angeles was raided in

16:10

the spring of 2018. Tobin wasn't home but

16:14

agreed to fly to Boston to turn himself

16:16

in. While doing so, Morrie

16:18

Tobin was provided the opportunity

16:21

to earn a more lenient sentence by

16:23

sharing information with the authorities. They

16:26

already had Roger Knox. They

16:28

already had Tobin's lawyers who helped

16:30

facilitate the scheme.

16:32

Is there anything

16:33

else that comes to mind? Actually,

16:36

there was, Tobin admitted. He

16:38

had been actively negotiating with the Yale

16:41

Women's Soccer Coach on the price of a

16:43

bribe to get one of his daughters into the school.

16:46

I'm sorry, come again. That's

16:48

right. Rudy Meredith is

16:50

his name. He's been a well-respected

16:52

coach at Yale for more than 20 years. Tobin

16:55

told investigators that he had been paying monthly

16:58

installments to Rudy for a few months now,

17:00

but hadn't settled on a final price. The

17:03

FBI was interested. Morrie

17:06

Tobin agreed to cooperate. He

17:08

scheduled a meeting with Rudy Meredith in a

17:10

Boston hotel room. The FBI

17:12

had the entire place wired. Agents

17:15

watched as the two men agreed on a total

17:17

cost of $450,000. Tobin hands over $2,000 cash and wires

17:20

another four

17:24

grand to Meredith a few days later. Boom.

17:27

They got him. That's wire fraud. Coach

17:30

Rudy Meredith was given the opportunity

17:32

to earn a more lenient sentence by

17:34

sharing information with the authorities. Who

17:37

is this Rick Singer guy you mentioned in

17:39

your meeting with Morrie Tobin? They asked him.

17:42

Oh, Rick Singer?

17:44

Why, he's a college admissions

17:46

coach in Newport Beach, California and

17:48

the operator of the largest college

17:51

admissions fraud in the country on

17:53

this episode of Swindled.

18:00

clear violations of federal estate law

18:02

in the earlier land. Pay to play means a taxpayer

18:05

dollars never wasted. Pay tens

18:07

of millions of dollars or billion dollars.

18:10

By falsifying its votes and records, responsible

18:14

for the collapse of the entire system. In the troll of

18:16

some god of swing. That's right.

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Support

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20:30

Hi, my name is Rick Singer

20:33

and I'm the founder of The Key. As

20:35

a father myself, I understand the

20:37

stress the college admissions process

20:39

can put on your family. For

20:42

the past 25 years, our coaches

20:44

have been helping students discover their

20:46

life passion

20:47

and guiding them and their families

20:49

through the complex college admissions

20:51

maze. My key method unlocks

20:54

the full potential of your son or daughter

20:57

and sets them on a course to excel in

20:59

life. Getting into the right college

21:01

will set the trajectory for the rest of your son

21:03

or daughter's life.

21:04

Don't leave it to chance. Let

21:07

a key coach come alongside you and your family

21:09

to truly unlock your students

21:11

potential. William

21:13

Rick Singer has always been intensely

21:15

competitive. Armchair psychologists

21:18

naturally point to his childhood as the impetus.

21:21

They say that growing up short, chubby,

21:23

and middle-class in a wealthy Chicago

21:25

suburb compelled Rick Singer to

21:27

want to win at all costs. His

21:30

competitive spirit truly blossomed when

21:32

he enrolled at Trinity University in

21:35

San Antonio in 1984. Rick

21:37

had abandoned his previous college

21:39

try at the University of Arizona

21:42

after two years. This time he

21:44

was serious. Too serious

21:47

according to some. Rick played

21:49

varsity basketball, baseball, and intramural

21:52

football at Trinity. According

21:54

to Nicole Laporte, author of Guilty

21:56

Admissions, this is where he earned the

21:59

nickname Rick Singer. the dick because

22:01

of his aggressive and off-putting approach

22:03

to winning. Rick Singer told

22:06

Trinity School newspaper that he wanted

22:08

to be a basketball coach one day. Anyone

22:11

who knew Rick would have snickered if they had heard

22:13

him say that. As LaPorte points

22:15

out in her book, Rick Singer did not have

22:17

the temperament to work with children

22:20

of any age. But he

22:22

tried anyway. At 26 years

22:24

old, Rick graduated with a bachelor's

22:27

degree in English and physical education.

22:29

He landed a job as an assistant basketball

22:32

coach at a high school in San Antonio. But

22:34

it didn't work out. On the sideline,

22:37

Rick would argue with the parents, the opposing

22:39

team, the water boy, anyone who would

22:41

listen. He was fired after one

22:44

season and decided to relocate

22:46

to Sacramento, California. There,

22:49

he worked as a substitute teacher for a while

22:51

before becoming the head basketball coach

22:53

at Encina High School. Again,

22:55

he was fired. The reason was

22:58

never publicly divulged, but parents

23:00

told the Sacramento Bee that Rick had been abusive

23:02

towards the referees. Nobody

23:04

was surprised. Like many

23:07

of his future clients, Mr. Singer

23:09

continued failing upward. In 1989,

23:11

he was hired as the men's

23:14

head basketball coach at Sacramento State,

23:17

but he was let go after only three seasons.

23:20

At this point, Rick Singer must have taken

23:22

a long, hard look at himself in the mirror.

23:25

Singing was his dream job, but maybe

23:27

not in the traditional capacity. It

23:29

failed time and time again, and

23:31

Rick Singer liked winning. It was

23:34

time to explore new ideas.

23:37

In 1992, Rick Singer formulated

23:40

a new consulting business called

23:42

Future Stars College and Career

23:44

Counseling. Rick's wife, Allison,

23:47

whom he had married a few years earlier,

23:49

handled all the behind-the-scenes administrative

23:51

work. At the same time, Rick traveled

23:54

around in his car, offering individualized

23:57

attention and comforting guidance to

23:59

high school students.

24:00

and their anxiety-ridden parents throughout

24:02

the college admissions process. Each

24:04

client earned him a couple thousand bucks.

24:07

I set it all up for them, Rick Singer told the

24:09

Sacramento Bee. I called the admissions

24:12

office and arranged a campus tour. I

24:14

set up a visit with key professors or

24:16

department staff. I arranged a

24:18

stay on campus if possible. For

24:20

some people, I even set up car rentals, plane

24:23

reservations, and hotels. Honestly,

24:26

Rick Singer was ahead of his time. The

24:28

industry surrounding the college admissions process

24:31

was still developing. It was a good

24:33

idea and one that he would eventually

24:35

revisit, but Rick Singer, at

24:38

that current point in time, could hardly

24:40

afford to pay his bills. He ended up

24:42

selling future stars and taking a drastic

24:45

career detour. Rick

24:47

Singer became a middle manager at

24:50

a call center. That job eventually

24:52

led him to working for another call center

24:54

in Omaha. Rick was still coaching

24:57

basketball on the side, screaming

24:59

in middle school gymnasiums, reducing

25:01

children to tears, but these call

25:04

center gigs were serving him well. Rick

25:06

Singer ultimately became CEO

25:09

of another call center based in India. He

25:11

only lost that job when the company sold to an

25:13

Indian bank. Luckily, Rick

25:16

owned a bunch of stock in the company, so

25:18

he made out well.

25:20

Back in Sacramento, Rick Singer re-pursued

25:23

his calling and launched College Source

25:26

College Counseling. It was similar

25:28

to his former counseling service, but now

25:30

he was offering so much more. For $10,000,

25:34

Singer would go so far as to fill out

25:36

his clients' college applications for them.

25:39

It'd exaggerate their accomplishments and

25:41

lie about their ethnicities to fulfill

25:43

his promise to earn them admittance

25:46

into specific, highly exclusive

25:48

universities.

25:50

And most of the time, Rick

25:52

Singer delivered.

25:54

Word of mouth about this college whisperer

25:57

spread among Sacramento's most wealthy,

25:59

Rick

25:59

Rick Singer started billing himself as a life

26:02

coach. He began giving presentations

26:04

about his college admissions strategy to

26:06

investment firms. Both employees

26:08

and clients of those firms would sign up for

26:10

his service. Before long, Rick

26:13

Singer had outgrown Sacramento. In 2012,

26:16

he moved to Newport Beach, California,

26:18

in Orange County, one of the wealthiest

26:20

cities in the country, about an hour south

26:22

of LA. He bought

26:25

a 1.5 million five-bedroom, Mediterranean

26:28

villa-style house and lived

26:29

there alone. Rick's marriage with

26:32

Allison had recently ended after 22 years. They

26:35

had one adopted child. Allison

26:37

hadn't been involved in Rick's business in a long

26:40

time,

26:40

and he was hyper-focused. Not much

26:43

can stand between a man and his dream.

26:46

Around this time, Rick Singer renamed his

26:48

business. The college source would

26:51

now be called the EDGE College and

26:53

Career Network, or simply the

26:55

key for short.

26:56

College has become so expensive,

26:59

and the process is much more complicated

27:01

than I remember. It's not as simple as

27:03

making a list of schools, taking tests,

27:06

writing essays, and filling out applications.

27:08

Without the help of the key, I would have never

27:10

been able to sort out all the details, and

27:12

my son would have missed his chance to go

27:14

to USC.

27:15

According to the key's website,

27:17

most of its clients were in California, but

27:20

the network quote, has footholds

27:23

in 81 American cities and five

27:25

foreign countries, including

27:27

Florida. Singer had partnered with

27:29

and began offering his services at the

27:32

IMG Academy, a boarding school

27:34

for sports in Bradenton, Florida that

27:36

has produced some of the country's greatest athletes,

27:39

especially in tennis. And that's

27:41

one of the things I really love about being a coach

27:44

for the key,

27:45

is I get to know my students. I get to know them on

27:47

a deeper level. I get to know what their passions are.

27:49

I get to know the schools they want to go and

27:51

the right fit for them. Also

27:54

around this time, Rick Singer established his

27:56

very own tax-exempt nonprofit

27:59

organization.

27:59

It was called the Key Worldwide Foundation.

28:03

Its mission was to quote, provide education

28:05

that would normally be unattainable to

28:08

underprivileged students. The

28:10

foundation's website says it funds dental care for

28:12

quote, needy Cambodians, after-school

28:15

programs for children in 20 cities

28:17

across the US, and life coaching

28:19

for underprivileged girls in Los Angeles.

28:22

In reality, the Key Worldwide

28:24

Foundation was nothing more than a vehicle to

28:26

launder money

28:27

as part of Rick Singer's new and wildly

28:30

popular college admissions fraud

28:32

scheme.

28:37

Rick Singer had witnessed the

28:39

process from every angle.

28:41

It had been a college student, it had been a college

28:43

coach, and it had been a college counselor.

28:46

Rick had learned that athletes had an easier

28:48

path into college,

28:50

the academic standards were lower, quite

28:52

frankly,

28:53

and coaches at these universities could hand-pick

28:56

kids as recruits even without granting

28:58

them a scholarship. The Wall Street

29:00

Journal found that athletes recruited by college

29:02

coaches were accepted into the recruiting school 85

29:05

to 95% of the time. For

29:07

everybody else, that acceptance rate was

29:10

about 15%. As

29:13

a counselor, especially during his time at

29:15

IMG, Rick Singer met a lot

29:17

of college coaches.

29:19

He knew how hard they worked, how underpaid

29:21

they were, how frustrated they were with

29:23

the fundraising process. Football

29:26

and basketball are the only real moneymakers

29:28

at the collegiate level. All the other

29:30

little niche sports like rowing, sailing,

29:33

tennis, soccer, water polo, etc. have

29:35

to raise funds just to break even. Rick

29:38

Singer had identified the weakest entry

29:41

point to many prestigious universities.

29:44

It wasn't what he called the front door, that's

29:47

when a student is accepted on the basis

29:49

of good grades and extracurricular

29:51

activities. Traditionally, this

29:53

is the most difficult way to get in, as

29:56

it requires a tremendous amount of work

29:59

and luck. Getting admitted

30:01

through the back door by showering

30:03

the university and donations offered a

30:05

little more assurance but was by far

30:07

the most expensive option. On

30:10

top of that there was still no guarantee that

30:12

they would give your applicant a second

30:14

look.

30:15

But now, Rick Singer that

30:17

introduced what he called the side

30:19

door.

30:20

It could guarantee admittance by arranging

30:23

for a student to be recruited as an athlete,

30:25

even if that student had never played a sport.

30:29

That student would never have to go to practice,

30:31

never have to play in a game, even

30:33

though they were technically on the team. They

30:36

could attend class like a regular student,

30:39

and no one would ever know.

30:41

Hey Rick, hey there, is

30:43

this a good time? Yeah, it's good for me. So

30:46

I just wanted you to walk me through the whole

30:49

kind of water polo thing again.

30:51

And how is there any risk that this

30:53

thing blows up in my face? No, like some

30:56

article comes out that the polo

30:58

team is selling. Seats into the school

31:00

for 250 grand. Well,

31:03

no, because she's a water polo player. But

31:06

she's not. I mean, that's what I mean.

31:08

Well, because she is. Rick Singer could

31:11

pull

31:11

this off because he had built a network

31:13

of college coaches that he could bribe

31:15

to recruit his clients at seven different

31:18

college campuses.

31:19

The first one he convinced was Gordon Ernst,

31:22

the tennis coach at Georgetown,

31:24

and it didn't take much. Ernst

31:27

coached both the men's and women's

31:29

teams for $65,000 a year. Singer

31:33

was especially excited about one of his more

31:36

recent partnerships.

31:37

He finally had a person on the inside at Stanford.

31:40

It was the sailing coach, John Vandemore, as

31:43

you can hear during Singer's conversation

31:45

with this interested parent. So

31:48

I had a conversation with the Stanford sailing

31:50

coach.

31:51

And so

31:54

I just gave the Stanford sailing

31:56

coach a $160,000 program. And

32:00

while we were having that conversation, I said,

32:03

hey, I'm hoping that

32:05

this 160 that I'm

32:07

helping you with helps secure

32:09

a spot for next year. Can

32:12

I be guaranteed a spot for next year? And

32:15

he said,

32:17

yes, I can send him your 500,000

32:19

that you wired into my account to secure

32:21

the spot

32:26

for one of your girls. I

32:29

asked him for a second spot

32:31

and sailing and he said he can't do

32:34

that because he has to actually recruit

32:37

some real sailors so that

32:39

Stanford doesn't catch on. Right.

32:42

Okay. So that Stanford doesn't

32:44

catch on to what he's doing.

32:47

Singer

32:50

also worked with UCLA's women's

32:53

soccer coach and Yale's women's soccer

32:55

coach, Rudy Meredith, but Rick's largest

32:57

partner was the University of

33:00

Southern California where he had Donna

33:02

Heino on his team. She was USC's

33:05

senior associate athletic director

33:07

and senior women's administrator. Donna

33:10

held part of the final say in the athletic

33:12

admissions process and she controlled

33:14

a school bank account. What's not

33:16

to love? This is how it worked. Parents

33:20

would quote donate money to Rick Singer's

33:22

nonprofit, the key worldwide foundation,

33:25

and then write it off on their taxes.

33:28

But instead of needy Cambodians, Singer,

33:30

after taking his cut, would distribute

33:33

the remaining funds hundreds of thousands

33:35

of dollars at a time to the various

33:37

coaches who had accepted a Singer client.

33:40

Most of that money went straight into the coach's

33:42

pockets. Only the Stanford sailing

33:45

coach, John Vandemore, forwarded the

33:47

funds to the school's athletic program. This

33:50

is how crazy it's gotten. I'm going

33:52

to do over 730 of these side doors this year.

33:59

How many schools are you doing with that now? I think just

34:02

the top 20 or 50 or more than that? Uh,

34:04

it's, you know, 50 to 60 different schools.

34:07

MIT, do they have a side door? No,

34:10

but MIT is not even a fun place to go

34:12

to school with the honor. If

34:14

the student needed academic help in addition

34:17

to the side door, Rick Singer offered other

34:19

services equally as unethical to

34:21

build the ultimate admissions package for $4,000

34:24

to $5,000. He could arrange

34:26

for one of the psychologists in his network

34:28

to certify a student as having a learning

34:31

disability. Doing so would

34:33

grant that student access to accommodations,

34:35

such as extra time on standardized tests,

34:38

with the option to take them at an off-campus

34:40

testing center. Statistics showed

34:43

that the student's scores would improve dramatically

34:45

with these additional luxuries. And

34:48

for an even larger payment, Rick Singer

34:50

could guarantee a test score. It

34:52

could accomplish this because he had two testing

34:54

centers on the Dole, one in Houston

34:57

and one in West Hollywood. Singer's

34:59

clients, now classified with learning

35:01

disabilities, could arrange to take their

35:03

SAT or ACT at one of those

35:06

centers. And Singer would send 36-year-old

35:08

Harvard grad, Mark Riddell, to

35:10

meet them there. Riddell was the

35:13

director of college entrance exams

35:15

at IMG Academy. His job

35:17

was to prepare kids for these tests. He

35:19

knew them like the back of his hand. He

35:21

was paid $10,000 a pop. Sometimes

35:25

Mark Riddell would use a fake ID and

35:27

actually sit and take the exam for the student.

35:30

Other times he would proctor the exam and change

35:32

the student's answers after they turned it in. If

35:35

the student were in on the scheme, Riddell

35:37

would simply sit next to them and feed

35:39

them corrections.

35:40

But most of the time, the students had

35:42

no idea. It was nearly

35:44

foolproof. The home run of home

35:47

run, Singer called it. He fancied himself

35:49

an expert on the college admissions system

35:51

by this point. He wrote two books

35:53

on the topic and even auditioned to be

35:55

featured on a reality show about the cutthroat

35:58

process.

35:59

a game. Just realize that this

36:02

is a game. The things that I see on a

36:04

daily basis are amazing

36:06

what's going on in people's homes across the country.

36:09

My name is Rick Singer. My job is to

36:11

life coach kids and families

36:13

through the whole process of getting into college. For

36:16

parents the process was already daunting

36:19

and Rick Singer would paint a bleaker picture

36:22

ringing the alarm about admissions statistics,

36:25

test scores, and changing demographics.

36:28

Some parents felt like their son or daughter stood

36:30

no chance of being accepted into

36:32

their preferred school unless they

36:34

relied on Rick Singer. He was the key.

36:37

He was the guarantee. Speaking

36:40

in absolutes and assurances, protecting

36:43

children and guardians alike from earth-shattering

36:46

disappointment. As long as

36:48

they were willing to cheat. The

36:50

payoff for me is knowing that these kids found

36:52

the right place to go to school and they feel great about

36:55

themselves. That they're empowered to

36:57

be successful. From 2011

36:59

to early 2019 Rick

37:02

Singers key worldwide foundation took

37:05

in more than 25 million dollars from

37:07

hundreds

37:07

of parents. Seven

37:09

million dollars was paid to coaches, administrators,

37:12

test takers, and everyone else involved. Singer

37:15

kept the rest. He dumped millions

37:17

into other business ventures, computer-based

37:20

training programs, a basketball gym

37:22

in Oakland, a chain of fast casual

37:25

Mexican food restaurants, and a Welsh soccer

37:27

team. It's almost like Rick Singer

37:29

was looking for an exit. The

37:31

side door remained open and profitable but

37:34

he desperately needed something else to take off

37:36

so he could cash

37:37

out and make a clean getaway. Singer

37:39

knew his admissions scheme couldn't last forever.

37:42

There were too many people involved and new customers

37:45

every day. One wrong move by

37:47

any one of them. And that side door

37:50

was slam in his face.

37:54

Support

37:57

for Swindle comes from better help.

37:59

We all come to a crossroads sometimes,

38:02

when you have to make a decision, and you're not

38:04

quite sure where you're headed or which path

38:07

to take. Unfortunately,

38:09

those journeys into the unknown are a common,

38:12

unnerving part of life. And

38:14

sometimes you might need to stop and ask

38:16

for directions. And that's okay. We

38:18

all need a little help finding our way from

38:21

time to time. That's where

38:23

therapy comes in. A powerful tool to

38:25

help us stay connected to what we truly

38:27

want as we navigate life. Whether

38:29

it's decisions about your career, relationships,

38:32

or anything else, therapy empowers

38:34

you to move forward with confidence

38:37

and excitement. You see, trusting

38:39

yourself to make decisions that align with your values

38:42

is like a muscle. The more you practice

38:44

it, the stronger it becomes. Personally,

38:47

I've learned that therapy isn't just for those who've experienced

38:50

major trauma. It's about growth, learning

38:52

positive coping skills, and setting healthy

38:55

boundaries. It's a journey of self-discovery,

38:58

and we all deserve that chance to become the best

39:00

version of ourselves. Now, if

39:03

you're thinking of starting therapy, let

39:05

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39:07

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39:09

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39:11

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39:12

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39:15

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39:37

dot com slash swindled.

39:43

Every working mom comes to me

39:45

and says, how do I do it all? Well,

39:48

guess what? You can't. No one is

39:50

superwoman, so don't try to be. I

39:52

like to think of it as thinking of yourself as a

39:54

ship that you just don't want to capsize. You

39:57

don't want to steer too much to one side of work

39:59

or too much to the other. the other side of home. And

40:01

also don't let guilt be your guide.

40:04

If you spend all of your time feeling badly

40:06

because you're not at work enough or you're not at home enough,

40:08

you're always going to be in the down position.

40:10

And then finally, set clear limits.

40:14

Say hello to Jane Buckingham, author

40:17

of the Modern Girls Guide to Motherhood

40:19

and the Modern Girls Guide to Sticky

40:22

Situations. Jane is

40:24

the chief executive of an LA-based

40:26

marketing company. She's a trend spotter,

40:29

a self-proclaimed expert on millennials.

40:32

You might have seen her on one of the morning shows, promoting

40:34

her books and

40:35

offering advice. When

40:38

your friends tell you to lie on your resume, you 100% do

40:40

not do it.

40:43

Jane Buckingham paid Rick Singer $50,000 to

40:47

ensure that her son Jack scored

40:49

high enough on the ACT to gain entrance

40:51

to USC. I know this is

40:54

craziness. I know it is, Buckingham

40:56

told Singer at the time. And then I need you

40:58

to get him in the USC. And then

41:00

I need you to cure cancer and make peace

41:03

in the Middle East. Jane's

41:05

son Jack was permitted to take the test

41:07

at home. But unbeknownst to him, it was

41:09

merely a practice run. His mother

41:11

and Rick Singer had arranged for Mark Riddell

41:14

to take the test for him somewhere else. Jack

41:16

Buckingham was ultimately accepted into

41:19

USC.

41:20

Rick Singer also arranged for Mark Riddell

41:22

to take the SAT for both of David

41:24

Seduc's sons. David Seduc was

41:26

a former Canadian football league player.

41:29

He paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Singer's

41:31

foundation. An early draft of one of

41:33

the admission essays written by Singer included

41:36

a fake story about how one of the Seduc boys

41:38

was held at gunpoint by an LA street

41:40

gang, only to be rescued by a

41:42

rival gang member named Nugget. Both

41:45

Seduc's sons were admitted to the school of their

41:47

choice. Gordon

41:49

Kaplan, a New York attorney named Dealmaker

41:52

of the Year in 2018 by American Lawyer

41:55

Magazine, is another example. He

41:57

paid Singer $75,000 to Rick his

42:00

daughter's ACT score. Singer

42:02

instructed Kaplan to tell his daughter to

42:05

act stupid in front of these psychologists

42:07

he had set them up with so that they could

42:09

land the learning disability classification

42:12

that the process required. What

42:14

has happened is all the wealthy families have figured

42:17

out that if I get my kid tested and

42:19

they get extended time, they can do better on

42:21

the test. So most of these kids don't even have

42:23

issues, but they're getting time. The

42:27

playing field's not fair. No,

42:30

it's not. I mean, this is... To

42:35

be honest, it feels a little weird. I

42:37

know it does. I know it does. But once you get to

42:39

school and we have choices, you're going to

42:41

be saying, okay, I'll take all my kids.

42:43

We're going to do the same thing. Um,

42:47

yeah, I will. Michelle

42:49

Janavs, heiress to the Hot

42:51

Pockets fortune, hired Rick Singer

42:53

to help two of her daughters cheat on

42:56

the ACT.

42:57

She also paid Singer $200,000 to have one of the daughters admitted

43:01

through

43:01

the side door at USC as a volleyball

43:03

recruit. And it worked. Another

43:06

California couple paid Rick Singer in Facebook

43:09

stock worth a quarter of a million dollars

43:11

to do something similar for their daughter at UCLA.

43:15

Funny enough, Lauren

43:16

Isaacson, the daughter of Bruce

43:18

and Davina Isaacson, was listed

43:20

on the soccer team's website among some

43:22

of the best players in North America, even

43:24

though she had never kicked

43:25

the ball. Karen Littlefair,

43:28

the socialite from Newport Beach best

43:30

known for hosting high-profile Republican

43:33

fundraisers,

43:34

seems to be one of the few who were left unsatisfied

43:37

with the Keys' performance. She paid

43:39

Singer $200,000 to get her son into

43:41

Georgetown, and he did so successfully.

43:44

But then the Littlefair's son found himself on

43:46

academic probation, so Karen

43:48

rehired Singer and paid another $9,000 for

43:52

them to pass four online classes for

43:54

her mediocre student. When

43:56

Karen received the bill, living up to

43:58

her name, she asked singer for a discount.

44:01

The grade was a C and the experience

44:04

was a nightmare, she wrote. But

44:06

Rex Singer refused to lower the price, replying,

44:08

quote, it was a nightmare for

44:11

all. In the end, that C

44:13

would not matter. Karen Littlefair's

44:15

son landed his, quote, ideal job

44:17

at the US Treasury Department before

44:20

he even graduated. Then

44:22

there's Molly Zhao, daughter of a

44:24

Beijing billionaire who paid

44:26

Singer's foundation $6.5 million

44:29

to give Molly admitted to Stanford as a

44:31

sailing recruit. It was Singer's

44:34

most lucrative side door admission

44:36

of all time, even though it seemed to

44:38

cheapen what Molly Zhao perceived as

44:40

a personal achievement.

44:42

Hello, guys. This year

44:45

I am admitted to Stanford.

44:47

I'm very lucky, I would like to say.

44:50

I'd like to thank everyone that's

44:52

helped me and all of that. I

44:55

think that like after I

44:58

felt like you

45:00

can always achieve the things that you want

45:02

to be if you try hard, like, yeah,

45:05

so.

45:08

These are just a few examples of the kind of people

45:10

who use Rex Singer's services. There

45:13

were CEOs, founders, lawyers,

45:15

vineyard owners and casino executives,

45:18

even famous Hollywood actresses.

45:21

You asking for a bribe? You

45:23

pretending you're above that? I

45:25

got my checkbook.

45:28

Felicity Huffman, best known for her

45:31

Emmy-winning role on the TV show Desperate

45:33

Housewives, paid $15,000 to

45:36

have Mark Riddell correct her daughter's SAT

45:38

score without the daughter's knowledge. Coincidentally,

45:42

I'm told there's a scene in Desperate Housewives

45:44

where Huffman's character bribes someone that

45:46

same exact amount to get her on-screen

45:49

twin children into private school. Quick,

45:53

name another actress who played a mother

45:55

to twins on TV.

45:57

I have to be honest, we

45:59

may have. Well, he may

46:01

have embellished lied

46:03

a bit on our application. That's

46:06

right, Lori Loughlin, aunt

46:09

Becky from the family-friendly sitcom

46:11

Full House. Remember little Nikki

46:14

and Alex? Becky and Uncle Jesse

46:16

introduced a second set of twins into

46:18

the show that already featured the Olsen twins. Kind

46:21

of jumped a shark if you ask me. Anyway,

46:24

in real life Lori is married to fashion

46:26

designer Masi Moji Anuli, not

46:29

John Stamos. They live in Los Angeles,

46:31

not San Francisco. And together

46:33

they have two daughters, Isabella Rose

46:36

and Olivia Jade. Not twins,

46:38

not boys. But Lori seems

46:40

to care about them regardless.

46:43

You know what I don't ever do? I never push my

46:45

kids to. I always say do the best you can. Yeah.

46:47

Never, I was never that kid. They're

46:50

fought, my husband too, their dad. We were never

46:52

like at school, you got to get straight aged.

46:54

We were never those parents. We were always like, you know what?

46:57

Give it your all. Do the best you can. Because in

46:59

life, if you give it your all and you do the best you

47:01

can, there's, that's it. That's all

47:04

you can do. And that's enough,

47:06

in my opinion. Especially with kids, I think we

47:08

put so much pressure and stress

47:11

on them. A lot of it is unnecessary.

47:13

Olivia

47:15

Giannulli, the younger daughter, was doing

47:17

well for herself before even graduating high

47:19

school. Olivia Jade, as she

47:21

was known online, was reportedly earning $10,000

47:23

to $15,000 for every

47:26

video she posted on YouTube. Where

47:28

she had over 2 million subscribers. She

47:31

had endorsements with haircare and beauty

47:33

brands like Trezimé and Sephora. Olivia

47:35

had also signed a deal with Amazon Fashion

47:38

to outfit her new dorm room at

47:40

USC.

47:42

Which was surprising. In videos

47:44

and interviews, Olivia Jade Giannulli

47:47

had been very vocal about not wanting

47:49

to go to college. But

47:50

her parents insisted. And

47:53

then the whole college thing, yep, I'm going, I'm living

47:55

in a dorm with a roommate who's so

47:57

sweet. With work, it's going to be hard, like

47:59

my first-

47:59

week of school I'm leaving to go to Fiji

48:02

for work and then I'll

48:04

be in New York a bunch this year for work and

48:07

traveling to a different country because I'm creating

48:09

something with this country and that's for

48:11

work so I don't know how much of school

48:14

I'm gonna attend but I'm gonna go in and talk to my deans

48:16

and everyone and hope that I can try and

48:18

balance it all um but I do want the experience

48:21

of like game days partying

48:23

I don't really care about school

48:25

as you guys all know Lori

48:28

Loughlin just thought it was a good idea for her

48:30

daughters to have backup plans she

48:32

said with a straight face inside of her 35 million

48:35

dollar bell air mansion yeah

48:38

I'm sure that was a major contributing factor

48:41

surely it had nothing to do with uh

48:43

what's the word I'm looking for

48:44

clout C-L-O-U-T

48:48

clout like you have clout you've got like

48:51

you're kind of high up there you've got oh

48:54

is that an actual word like

48:56

how'd you know that is that like an actual thing

48:59

clout is an actual word oh I

49:01

thought it was just like a social media thing

49:03

once again money on that

49:05

education

49:11

oh yeah

49:11

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo spent

49:14

money on Olivia's education bell

49:16

is two the couple allegedly paid

49:18

a total of five hundred thousand dollars

49:20

in bribes through singer's foundation to

49:22

have both daughters admitted to USC

49:25

as members of the rowing team the

49:27

older daughter got in with no issue but

49:29

Olivia's admittance a year later as

49:31

a rowing recruit raised the eyebrow

49:34

of her private school guidance counselor

49:36

Philip Petron was aware of Olivia's youtube

49:39

channel and busy schedule he

49:41

was confident that she was not on any

49:43

rowing team and never had been

49:45

Philip reached out to USC to express

49:48

his concern USC

49:50

would investigate Donna Heinel

49:52

who was receiving a twenty thousand dollars

49:54

a month retainer from Rick Singer promised

49:56

to look into it

49:58

of course word got back to the

49:59

Gia Nuli family. In emails,

50:02

Massimo referred to the guidance counselor

50:04

as our little friend. Fuck

50:06

him, he wrote, nosy bastard.

50:09

After

50:09

a confrontational visit to Philip Patron's

50:11

office in which Massimo convinced the

50:13

counselor very loudly that his daughter

50:16

Olivia was quite the accomplished rower,

50:18

Patron retracted his concerns.

50:21

He assured Moss in an email quote, I

50:23

also shared with Donna Heino that you had visited

50:26

this morning and affirmed for me that Olivia

50:28

is truly a coxswain. A

50:31

coxswain is a smaller member of the rowing

50:33

team that sits at the front of the boat, if

50:35

you didn't know. Olivia Jade

50:37

was ultimately accepted into USC.

50:39

Massimo Gia Nuli paid $200,000 to the key

50:42

worldwide foundation and $50,000 directly to Donna

50:47

Heino via check to a bank account

50:49

in the school's name that she controlled. Massimo

50:51

paid the same price a year earlier for Bella

50:54

and sent the invoice to its financial advisor

50:56

with a note quote, good news.

50:59

My older daughter is in USC. Bad

51:02

news is I had to work the system.

51:04

I don't want to do anything that

51:07

one day might rear its ugly head

51:09

and my children have to pay

51:11

the price for that.

51:12

The Olivia Jade incident wasn't

51:15

Rick Singer's only close call. Other

51:17

guidance counselors have expressed similar concerns

51:20

to USC. Donna Heino would

51:22

typically smooth it over. Sometimes

51:24

the school themselves would raise a red flag. The

51:27

registrar would contact the phony student

51:29

athletes, wondering why they signed up for

51:31

a class that conflicts with their practice schedule.

51:34

The easy answer, Singer instructed parents,

51:36

was to explain that the student had suffered an

51:39

injury and would not be playing this

51:41

year. So I wanted to give you just

51:42

a quick heads up. Donna

51:45

Heino, who's the senior women's

51:47

administrator at USC, she called

51:50

me, gave me a heads up. She

51:54

was asked by admissions as

51:57

to why Sabrina did not show

51:59

up for women's

51:59

basketball in the fall. Yeah.

52:03

So she told them that

52:06

Sabrina had an injury. Yeah.

52:09

And that it happened over the summer. Yeah.

52:12

And that she would be out for six to eight months.

52:16

Okay. So I just wanted

52:18

to give you a heads up because this

52:21

has happened to several of our other families

52:23

that went through the side door.

52:27

Rick Singer survived another near miss

52:29

back in 2014 when a student

52:31

he tried to get in through the side door at UCLA

52:34

was rejected. A disappointed mother

52:36

contacted the school and let them know she was

52:38

still interested in donating $100,000 to get her daughter

52:40

admitted as

52:43

Rick Singer at the key had explained to her. UCLA

52:46

interviewed Rick Singer about the concerning proposal

52:49

but he denied any wrongdoing and skated

52:52

as he would continue to do for years.

52:55

But it was a constant tight rope act and

52:58

the full view of everyone. Singer's

53:00

tax returns for his nonprofit which

53:02

are public information, showed that

53:04

the foundation was collecting millions in donations

53:07

every year yet employed

53:09

no one. There was one independent

53:12

contractor listed, Gordon Ernst, the

53:14

Georgetown tennis coach, was being

53:16

paid hundreds of thousands every year.

53:19

The tax forms also revealed that the vast majority

53:22

of the foundation's functional expenses were

53:24

going to athletic programs at universities

53:27

such as USC, the University

53:29

of Texas,

53:29

NYU, the University of Miami

53:32

and more. It was a red flag city

53:34

for everyone to see but no

53:36

one ever did.

53:37

However, probably the closest

53:40

call of all happened in 2016 when

53:43

Philip S. Forms was arrested.

53:45

This just in a federal

53:48

jury has convicted a Florida healthcare executive

53:50

on 20 criminal counts in

53:52

a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme.

53:55

After four days of deliberating the fate of 50 year

53:57

old Philip S. Forms, the jurors just

53:59

were.

53:59

reached a verdict. For

54:02

decades, Philip S. Forum's and his father

54:04

owned a network of more than two dozen

54:07

nursing homes and assisted living facilities

54:09

in Chicago and Miami. Their

54:11

business survived repeated federal law

54:14

enforcement probes and investigations

54:16

by the Chicago Tribune newspaper, which

54:18

found that the S-Forms employed three scouts

54:21

to fill their vacant beds with homeless,

54:23

drug-addicted, and mentally ill patients.

54:26

The recruits were lured to the facilities and

54:29

enticed to stay in exchange

54:30

for OxyContin and Fentanyl. Many

54:33

received unnecessary and harmful treatments,

54:36

all of which was billed to Medicare, Medicaid,

54:39

and paid for by the American taxpayer.

54:42

In many cases, those recruits, many

54:44

of them younger, violent felons, shared

54:47

rooms with the elderly and physically disabled

54:49

residents,

54:50

unsurprisingly leading to numerous

54:53

violent incidents. For example,

54:55

in 2009, Thomas Donovan, a

54:58

63-year-old diabetic schizophrenic amputee,

55:01

was beaten to death by his housemate

55:03

just months after arriving at Burnham Healthcare,

55:06

a facility owned by the S-Forms family.

55:09

No one was ever charged with Mr. Donovan's

55:11

murder. Four years

55:13

later, in 2013, Robert

55:15

Lee Verser, a 73-year-old

55:18

hospice patient, was beaten to death

55:20

in his bed by his 41-year-old roommate

55:22

in the throes of a psychotic episode. Employees

55:25

of the facility raced into the room to find Michael

55:27

Poole standing calmly in the corner with blood

55:30

dripping from his hands. They allowed him to

55:32

leave the scene and roam the halls alone while

55:34

they tended to Mr. Verser. Shockingly,

55:38

multiple allegations of substandard care

55:40

at the S-Forms facilities also existed.

55:43

The Tribune found that 20 wrongful

55:45

death lawsuits had been filed against the homes in

55:48

just four years in Miami alone.

55:50

A 75-year-old man who ambled with

55:52

a cane drowned in a nearby lake. Nobody

55:55

knew how he got out. Also, according

55:58

to the Tribune, another resident with a severe

55:59

mental disorder wandered into traffic

56:02

and was fatally struck by a car. The

56:04

facility never alerted the family that it

56:06

was missing. That same

56:08

type of neglect was also happening at the S-Forms

56:11

facilities around Chicago. Esther

56:13

Vasquez told the Tribune that her 89-year-old mother,

56:16

Concepcion Vasquez, wasted

56:19

away alone in a room with nothing more than a rocking

56:21

chair and a blaring TV. Her

56:24

teeth were rotted out. She had one pair

56:26

of clothes. She weighed 65 pounds.

56:29

She looked like

56:29

one of those people in concentration camps,

56:32

Esther told the newspaper. Patients

56:35

were not regarded as people, as

56:38

living things, but

56:41

simply exploited as cogs in

56:44

a machine of fraud. Yet,

56:47

Philip S-Forms continued to operate

56:49

nursing home facilities for decades. He

56:51

was finally arrested in July 2016 as

56:54

part of a bribery scheme. Philip

56:56

paid doctors and medical administrators kickbacks

56:59

to refer patients to his businesses. Those

57:02

referrals generated $1.3 billion

57:05

in Medicaid revenues for S-Forms, the

57:07

largest single criminal health care fraud case

57:10

ever brought against individuals by the Department

57:12

of Justice, according to Assistant

57:14

Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

57:18

Philip S-Forms was arrested at one

57:20

of his homes in Miami Beach, yet

57:22

another one in LA and a condo in Chicago.

57:25

He traveled by private jet. He drove a $1.6

57:28

million Ferrari. Philip

57:31

S-Forms net worth at the time of his arrest

57:33

was $78.9 million.

57:36

During his heyday, he could buy anything

57:38

he wanted, including

57:40

admission for his son to the University

57:43

of Pennsylvania.

57:45

During the federal investigation into the

57:47

Medicare fraud scheme, detectives

57:49

discovered that Philip S-Forms paid $300,000 to the

57:51

men's basketball

57:53

coach at U-Pen to recruit his son

57:56

as an athlete to open that side door for

57:58

a pain-free admission. that coach

58:00

Jerome Allen accepted the bribe. He

58:03

eventually pleaded guilty to one felony

58:05

count of money laundering. He was sentenced

58:07

to four years probation and he agreed

58:10

to testify against Philip S. Formes at

58:12

the trial. What makes

58:14

this story even more interesting is

58:16

what investigators found on Philip S. Formes'

58:18

phone. Text messages to

58:21

a man named Rick Singer. A conversation

58:23

about the college admissions process for S.

58:26

Formes' son. Law enforcement

58:28

did not dig too deep into the connection

58:29

at the time. It's been alleged

58:32

that Rick Singer was Philip S. Formes' backup

58:34

plan if the coach Jerome Allen

58:36

deal fell through. S. Formes

58:38

was familiar with Singer's work. He'd

58:41

used the key to get his daughter admitted to USC

58:43

a few years earlier. But that fact

58:45

wouldn't be discovered until years later

58:48

during the trial for the $1.3 billion

58:50

Medicare fraud scheme in which Philip

58:53

S. Formes was convicted. He was sentenced

58:55

to 20 years in prison. He served

58:58

less than two.

58:59

More breaking news. President Donald Trump

59:02

in Florida's night for the holidays as

59:04

he unleashed another wave of controversial

59:06

pardons tonight. Some of the 26 names

59:09

on the list close to the president's

59:11

inner circle. Other controversial

59:13

move. Commuting the sentence of

59:15

former Chicago area nursing

59:18

home mogul Philip S. Forms.

59:20

S. Forms is accused of a billion dollar

59:23

Medicare case fraud, the largest

59:25

in U.S. history.

59:28

Back in 2018, Rick Singer

59:30

continued to pry open that side

59:32

door undetected.

59:34

He was in London on business in July of that

59:36

year when he received a call from one of his favorite

59:38

guys.

59:39

It was Rudy Meredith, the head basketball

59:41

coach at Yale University. He

59:44

wanted to meet in person. Rick Singer

59:46

agreed just as soon as he could.

59:49

That meeting took place on September 21, 2018 at

59:53

the Marriott Long Wharf in Boston. It

59:55

was just Rick Singer and Rudy Meredith in

59:57

the room for a while before. the

1:00:00

FBI let themselves in. They

1:00:02

calmly laid out the charges against Rick Singer,

1:00:05

who initially protested. He said

1:00:07

those bribes were legit donations.

1:00:10

This is all a big mistake. Eventually,

1:00:12

Singer gave up, admitted

1:00:14

everything,

1:00:15

and agreed to cooperate fully.

1:00:20

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So I'm calling because I'm in Boston and

1:02:07

I, so what's happened is

1:02:09

my foundation is getting audited

1:02:12

now, which

1:02:14

as you know is pretty typical. So

1:02:17

they're looking at all my payments. So

1:02:21

they asked about your payments,

1:02:25

one of them for when Mark took

1:02:28

the test for Audrey. The

1:02:33

payment that we made

1:02:35

to Jorge to help

1:02:38

Warren get into UCLA through

1:02:40

soccer. And

1:02:43

then the payment that we made to

1:02:46

Donna Heinell at USC to help

1:02:49

Audrey get in through accruing. So

1:02:54

of course I'm not going to tell the IRS where

1:02:56

the money went. Rick

1:03:00

Singer started turning over documents, making

1:03:03

phone calls

1:03:03

and scheduling meetings with current

1:03:05

and former clients in late September 2018.

1:03:09

The FBI was listening to every word. The

1:03:12

script called for Singer to give a heads up

1:03:14

to the parents that his foundation was being audited

1:03:17

and that they were questioning certain payments. But

1:03:19

not to worry, because he definitely

1:03:22

would not say anything about how they bribed him

1:03:24

with half a million dollars to get their son

1:03:26

or daughter into school as an athletic recruit.

1:03:29

Even though they were not legitimate athletes,

1:03:31

laying out the entire scheme and

1:03:33

incredible incriminating detail.

1:03:36

Singer was such an obvious double agent,

1:03:38

but I guess believable enough to fool

1:03:40

Hollywood actresses and New York

1:03:42

lawyers like Gordon Kaplan, Mr.

1:03:45

sense of humor over here. Singer

1:03:55

continued down his client list until

1:03:57

he called every single parent.

1:03:59

The Mel, tell me something good. Ah,

1:04:02

ha ha ha. So, Reina

1:04:04

is loving USC. Thank you

1:04:06

so much. How are you doing? I'm

1:04:10

living life like you, big guy. Some

1:04:12

ignored his messages and never returned his

1:04:14

calls. Those clients were never charged,

1:04:18

as for everybody else. Tonight,

1:04:20

at five, wealthy parents, Hollywood

1:04:22

stars, CEOs, elite college

1:04:25

coaches, and college prep execs

1:04:27

are just some of the individuals accused

1:04:29

of carrying out a nationwide bribery scheme

1:04:32

to help students gain admission to some of the nation's

1:04:34

top colleges and universities.

1:04:37

The arrests

1:04:39

started at 6 AM Pacific on

1:04:41

March 12, 2019. Jane

1:04:44

Buckingham fainted when she opened the door. Felicity

1:04:47

Huffman, her husband William H. Macy,

1:04:49

and their daughters were still asleep when

1:04:52

federal agents entered their house with guns

1:04:54

drawn.

1:04:55

Operation Varsity Blues culminated

1:04:58

in the US Attorney's Office in the District

1:05:00

of Massachusetts unsealing indictments,

1:05:03

charging 50 people, including 33 parents,

1:05:06

with felony conspiracy charges to commit

1:05:08

mail fraud and honest services

1:05:10

mail fraud. Seven additional

1:05:12

people would be charged at a later date. We're

1:05:16

here today to announce charges in

1:05:18

the largest college admissions scam ever

1:05:20

prosecuted by the Department of Justice. We've

1:05:23

charged 50 people nationwide

1:05:25

with participating in

1:05:27

a conspiracy that involved, first, cheating

1:05:30

on college entrance exams, meaning

1:05:32

the SAT and the ACT, and

1:05:35

second, securing admission to elite

1:05:37

colleges by bribing coaches

1:05:40

at those schools to accept certain

1:05:42

students under false pretense.

1:05:45

The parents charged today, despite already

1:05:47

being able to give their children every

1:05:49

legitimate advantage in the college admissions

1:05:51

game, instead chose to corrupt

1:05:54

and illegally manipulate the system for their

1:05:56

benefit, said US Attorney Andrew

1:05:58

E. Lelling.

1:05:59

There can be no separate college admission systems

1:06:02

for the wealthy. And I'll add that there will not

1:06:04

be a separate criminal justice system

1:06:06

either. This is FBI Special

1:06:09

Agent Joe Bonavillanta. Make

1:06:11

no mistake, this is not a case where

1:06:14

parents were acting in the best interests of their

1:06:16

children. This is a case

1:06:18

where they flaunted their wealth, sparing

1:06:21

no expense, to cheat

1:06:23

the system so they could set their children

1:06:25

up for success with the best

1:06:28

education money could buy. Literally.

1:06:31

Some spent anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million for guaranteed

1:06:33

admission. Their

1:06:39

actions were, without a doubt, insidious,

1:06:42

selfish, and shameful.

1:06:46

Within six months, 47 of

1:06:48

the 57 people charged in Operation

1:06:50

Varsity Blues had pleaded guilty, including

1:06:53

Rick Singer, who admitted to unethically

1:06:56

facilitating the college admissions process

1:06:58

for children and more than 750 families beginning in 2011. Rick

1:07:03

posted bail, sold his house, changed

1:07:06

into a speedo, and went paddle boarding.

1:07:08

He complained about not being able to get a job

1:07:11

because of immediate attention. Rick

1:07:13

eventually moved to Florida and lived in a trailer

1:07:15

park for seniors to await his fate. He

1:07:17

would be one of the last to be sentenced.

1:07:20

Jail time for another

1:07:22

parent caught up in the Varsity Blues college

1:07:24

admissions scandal. Jane Buckingham,

1:07:26

bestselling author of A Modern Girl's Guide

1:07:29

to Motherhood, marketing guru and television

1:07:31

personality, sentenced to three weeks

1:07:34

behind bars, a year of probation,

1:07:36

and a $40,000 fine. Two

1:07:39

parents accused of helping their daughter cheat her way

1:07:41

into Northwestern University pleaded guilty

1:07:43

today in the National College Admission

1:07:46

Scandal.

1:07:46

A former USC official will spend six

1:07:49

months in prison for her role in the college admissions

1:07:51

scandal. A former Stanford

1:07:53

coach pleaded guilty to his role in the scandal.

1:07:56

Now to the breaking news in that college admissions

1:07:58

scandal just dropping this afternoon.

1:07:59

actress Felicity Huffman pleading guilty

1:08:02

to paying $15,000 to a fake

1:08:05

charity to have her daughter's SAT scores

1:08:07

boosted. The public

1:08:09

outrage lingered. These disgusting

1:08:11

fucking pigs. How could they? As

1:08:14

if they don't have enough already. These

1:08:16

people think they're so important. Like

1:08:19

we're watching their every move or something.

1:08:21

Nobody gives a wait. Felicity Huffman

1:08:24

is going to jail. The Felicity

1:08:26

Huffman? Oh my god. What

1:08:29

do you think she's going to eat?

1:08:31

The prison lunch menu today consists

1:08:33

of chicken patty, steamed rice,

1:08:36

beans and fruit. For dinner,

1:08:38

she'll be served pepper steak or lentils,

1:08:41

steamed rice, green beans and

1:08:43

whole wheat bread.

1:08:46

Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days,

1:08:49

one year of supervised release, 250

1:08:52

hours of community service and fined $30,000.

1:08:57

She offered a public apology. In

1:08:59

my desperation to be a good mother,

1:09:01

Felicity wrote, I talked myself into

1:09:03

believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter

1:09:06

a fair shot. I see the irony

1:09:08

in that statement now because what I have done

1:09:10

is the opposite of fair. I am

1:09:12

ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter,

1:09:15

my family, my friends, my colleagues and

1:09:17

the educational community. I

1:09:19

want to apologize to them and especially

1:09:22

I want to apologize to the students who

1:09:24

work hard every day to get into college and

1:09:27

to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices

1:09:29

to support their children and do so

1:09:32

honestly. Actress Felicity Huffman

1:09:34

has now been released from prison early after serving 11

1:09:36

days of her 14 day sentence. Not

1:09:39

everyone was as forthcoming with their

1:09:41

mistakes. Some parents, such

1:09:44

as Lori Loughlin and Massimo

1:09:46

Giannulli

1:09:46

pleaded not guilty. Their

1:09:49

defense was that they believed that their payments to

1:09:51

Rick Singer were legitimate donations, that

1:09:53

they had no knowledge of falsehoods in

1:09:55

the application process, despite

1:09:58

sending photos to Singer of their daughter's death.

1:09:59

on rowing machines. Many

1:10:02

attorneys for the parents who pleaded not guilty

1:10:04

latched on to some notes Rick Singer typed

1:10:06

in his phone about his FBI handlers

1:10:09

during the phone call stings. They

1:10:11

continued to ask me to tell a fib, Singer

1:10:13

wrote. Proof, the defense attorneys

1:10:16

claimed, that the evidence had been fabricated.

1:10:20

The Department of Justice turned up the heat on

1:10:22

these holdouts by adding conspiracy

1:10:24

charges to commit money laundering, substantially

1:10:27

increasing the maximum sentence they could receive

1:10:29

if convicted

1:10:29

at trial. Most of the

1:10:32

holdout parents folded and pleaded guilty

1:10:34

soon after this additional charge was announced.

1:10:37

But not Lori Loughlin and Massimo

1:10:39

Giannulli. Loughlin was actually

1:10:41

in Vancouver when the initial sweep took

1:10:43

place. She turned herself in the next

1:10:45

day. Olivia Jade was on spring

1:10:47

break in Cabo, San Lucas, relaxing

1:10:50

on a yacht owned by Rick Caruso,

1:10:52

the chairman of USC's board

1:10:54

of trustees. Olivia was friends

1:10:57

with his daughter. She excused herself

1:10:59

when a friend called to ask if she had heard

1:11:01

the news. Soon after, Olivia

1:11:04

Jade's YouTube channel went dark. Sephora,

1:11:07

Chesime and others ended their partnerships

1:11:09

with the young influencer. Lori

1:11:11

Loughlin also lost her acting roles. Sources

1:11:15

told gossip magazines that the Giannullis

1:11:17

were furious that people thought they were cheaters.

1:11:20

A source told People Magazine that Loughlin

1:11:22

was in complete denial about the whole

1:11:24

thing. Another told Us Weekly

1:11:26

that Olivia Jade blamed her mother

1:11:28

for ruining her career. It's

1:11:30

pretty juicy.

1:11:32

Not sure how reliable those sources are, but

1:11:34

there might have been something to it. Olivia

1:11:36

was seen moving out of the family home about a month

1:11:39

after the scandal unfolded. However,

1:11:41

other reports say that Olivia Jade Giannulli

1:11:43

was fully aware of the corners her parents

1:11:45

were cutting. And not only that, Olivia

1:11:48

herself was no stranger to cheating.

1:11:51

Back in 2016, Olivia Jade

1:11:54

appeared on a Verizon mobile channel trivia

1:11:56

game show called Tap That Awesome

1:11:58

App. She played for Cheaters.

1:11:59

charity against fellow influencers and

1:12:02

lost fair and square. But

1:12:04

according to Marissa Rachel, the influencer

1:12:06

who won, the producers announced

1:12:08

they had made a score miscalculation and made

1:12:11

them reshoot the ending. This time,

1:12:13

Olivia had magically won. Video

1:12:16

of that episode no longer exists.

1:12:19

On July 29th, 2019, about four months after

1:12:23

her parents' arrest, Olivia Jade

1:12:25

broke her social media silence by wishing

1:12:27

her mother a happy birthday with an Instagram

1:12:29

post. Olivia posted a photo

1:12:31

of herself raising both middle fingers two weeks

1:12:34

later. She tagged various media

1:12:36

outlets. I think she was trying to send a message,

1:12:39

but that message was deleted after Felicity

1:12:41

Huffman was sentenced. Olivia

1:12:44

Jade eventually returned to YouTube, but

1:12:46

she said she couldn't legally speak about

1:12:48

anything.

1:12:49

Hi, everybody, it's Olivia

1:12:51

Jade. Welcome back

1:12:54

to my YouTube channel. Obviously,

1:12:56

I've been gone for a really

1:12:58

long time. As

1:13:00

the Giannulli's October trial date approached,

1:13:03

prosecutors released more details about

1:13:05

their case and one court filing

1:13:07

they made public a memo written by a private

1:13:10

school college counselor who had a contentious

1:13:12

meeting with Mossimo. Lori Loughlin

1:13:14

and Mossimo Giannulli finally gave up and

1:13:17

pleaded guilty in May 2020, 14 months

1:13:20

after they were initially charged.

1:13:23

Breaking news, actress Lori Loughlin

1:13:25

has just been sentenced to two months

1:13:27

in prison for her role in the college

1:13:29

admissions cheating scandal. Now

1:13:31

Loughlin's husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli,

1:13:34

was sentenced earlier today. He received

1:13:36

five months in prison, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours

1:13:38

of community service.

1:13:46

Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison.

1:13:49

The judge

1:13:50

described Loughlin as an admired, successful

1:13:53

professional actor with two healthy children,

1:13:55

a long-standing marriage, and quote,

1:13:57

more money than you could possibly need. And

1:14:00

yet you stand

1:14:01

before me a convicted felon. And

1:14:03

for what? For the inexplicable

1:14:06

desire to have even more. That

1:14:08

St. Judd sentenced Mossimo to five

1:14:10

months in prison.

1:14:12

You were not stealing bread to feed your family,

1:14:14

he told him. You

1:14:15

had no excuse for your crime, and that

1:14:17

makes it all the more

1:14:18

blameworthy. After

1:14:20

both parents reported to prison, Olivia

1:14:22

Jade appeared on Jada Pinkett Smith's Facebook

1:14:25

talk show Red Table Talk to take

1:14:27

her lumps. On paper it's bad,

1:14:29

it's really bad, the influencer admitted.

1:14:32

But I

1:14:32

think what a lot of people don't know is that my parents

1:14:34

just came from a place of I love my

1:14:37

kids, I just want to help my kids, whatever

1:14:39

is best for them. I think they thought it

1:14:41

was normal.

1:14:42

I never got to say I'm really

1:14:44

sorry that this happened, or I really owned

1:14:46

that this was a big mess up on everybody's part.

1:14:49

Honestly, when it first happened I didn't look at it and

1:14:51

say, oh my god, like how dare we

1:14:53

do this. That's embarrassing within itself that

1:14:55

I walked around my whole 20 years of life

1:14:57

not realizing like you have insane

1:15:00

privilege, you're like the poster child of white privilege.

1:15:03

I don't want pity, I don't deserve

1:15:05

pity, Olivia said.

1:15:07

What's so important to me is to learn from

1:15:09

the mistake, not to now be shamed

1:15:11

and punished and never given a second chance

1:15:14

because I'm 21. I feel like I

1:15:16

deserve a second chance to redeem myself,

1:15:18

to show I've grown.

1:15:20

No matter what the situation is,

1:15:22

you don't want to see your parents go to prison. But also

1:15:24

I think it's necessary for us to move

1:15:26

on. Right. Move forward.

1:15:29

Most parents,

1:15:29

coaches, and administrators who

1:15:31

pleaded guilty

1:15:33

were sentenced to a few weeks to a few months

1:15:35

in prison. Some of the more notable

1:15:37

results include John Vandemore, the Stanford

1:15:39

selling coach. He was sentenced to one

1:15:42

day since he didn't keep any of the money

1:15:44

for himself. Gordon Ernst, the

1:15:46

first coach caught in Singer's Web, was

1:15:48

given two and a half years. Donna

1:15:50

Heinel, the U.S. administrator responsible

1:15:53

for accepting dozens of phony athletic

1:15:55

recruits, was sentenced

1:15:56

to six months in prison before

1:15:59

she reported Donna

1:15:59

was seen selling her $2 million home

1:16:02

and driving for Lyft.

1:16:05

Only a handful of the parents charged went to

1:16:07

trial. Gamal,

1:16:08

Abdel Aziz, a former casino

1:16:10

executive, and John Wilson, a private

1:16:13

equity investor, were both convicted

1:16:15

in October 2021.

1:16:17

Both men appealed and their sentences

1:16:19

were vacated on May 10th, 2023. An

1:16:23

appellate court ruled that the jurors should not

1:16:25

have been told to consider admission slots as

1:16:27

property and that evidence related

1:16:29

to other parents' cases was introduced

1:16:31

in their trial erroneously. One

1:16:34

parent, Amen Khuri, was

1:16:37

acquitted. His attorneys said the not

1:16:39

guilty verdict showed that the jury had agreed with

1:16:41

the defense's argument that college

1:16:43

admissions is not a pure meritocracy.

1:16:47

USC's former water polo coach,

1:16:49

Jovan Vavic, was convicted of

1:16:51

fraud and bribery, but the ruling

1:16:53

was overturned in September 2022. He

1:16:56

is currently waiting for a new trial. Robert

1:16:59

Zangrillo, the founder of Dragon Global,

1:17:02

an investment firm, never even made

1:17:04

it to his first trial. He received

1:17:06

a full pardon from outgoing President

1:17:09

Donald Trump before his case could ever

1:17:11

be heard. In a statement, the

1:17:13

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, Andrew

1:17:16

E. Lelling, said the pardon demonstrated

1:17:18

precisely why Operation Varsity

1:17:20

Blues was necessary in the first place.

1:17:23

Morrie Tobin, the pump and dump mastermind

1:17:26

whose tip

1:17:26

exposed Rick Singer's admissions conspiracy,

1:17:29

was not charged in Operation Varsity Blues,

1:17:32

but he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit

1:17:34

securities fraud and was sentenced to 12

1:17:36

months and one day in prison. "'I'm

1:17:38

extremely, sincerely sorry and

1:17:41

ashamed of my actions,' Tobin told the judge

1:17:43

before receiving his sentence. I tried

1:17:45

to do everything possible to make amends." The

1:17:48

judge said he accepted Tobin's remorse, but

1:17:50

that his motive was, quote,

1:17:52

"'pure and simple greed.'"

1:17:56

Rudy Meredith, the Yale soccer coach

1:17:58

who led the feds to Rick Singer,

1:17:59

sentenced to five months in prison for accepting

1:18:02

bribes. Meredith was also ordered

1:18:04

to pay a $19,000 fine and forfeit $557,774.

1:18:13

Good afternoon. Today after

1:18:15

nearly four years, two

1:18:17

trials and more than 50 convictions,

1:18:20

the architect and mastermind behind

1:18:22

the historic nationwide college

1:18:25

admissions scandal has been sentenced.

1:18:28

Rick Singer was just sentenced to 42

1:18:31

months in federal prison for

1:18:33

his role in a cheating and

1:18:36

bribery scheme that rocked

1:18:38

the college admissions process across

1:18:41

our nation.

1:18:43

Finally, nearly four years after

1:18:45

his initial arrest on January

1:18:48

4th, 2023, William Rick Singer

1:18:51

was due in court. The

1:18:53

62-year-old had pleaded guilty to four criminal

1:18:55

charges involving racketeering, conspiracy,

1:18:58

money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy

1:19:01

to defraud the US government and obstruction

1:19:03

of justice. He was sentenced to three

1:19:05

and a half years in federal prison, three

1:19:08

years of supervised release, and forfeiture

1:19:11

of over ten million dollars. I have

1:19:14

been reflecting on my very poor judgment

1:19:16

and criminal activities that increasingly

1:19:19

had become my way of life. I have

1:19:21

woken up every day feeling shame, remorse,

1:19:23

and regret. Singer wrote in a letter to the

1:19:26

judge. I acknowledge that I

1:19:28

am fully responsible for my crimes.

1:19:31

Singer blamed his actions on his winning at

1:19:33

all cost attitude by ignoring

1:19:36

what was morally, ethically, and legally

1:19:38

right in favor of winning what I perceived

1:19:40

was the college admissions game. I have

1:19:42

lost everything he wrote. I lost

1:19:44

my ethical values and have so much

1:19:46

regret. To be frank, I'm

1:19:49

ashamed of myself.

1:19:51

Most parents have served their time and moved

1:19:53

on. Many students had their admissions

1:19:55

rescinded. Others face suspension

1:19:57

or expulsion. Some students like Olivia

1:20:00

Jade never bothered to return.

1:20:03

One student, Adam Sempervivo, son

1:20:05

of Steven Sempervivo, who had been

1:20:07

convicted in the scandal, sued Georgetown

1:20:10

University after it notified him that

1:20:12

he was no longer allowed at their school. In

1:20:14

his lawsuit, Adam argued that he had already attended

1:20:17

the school for three years at a cost of $200,000.

1:20:21

He agreed to withdraw voluntarily but

1:20:23

wanted to keep his college credits. The

1:20:25

school did not back down and Adam

1:20:27

Sempervivo dropped his lawsuit. Two

1:20:31

other civil lawsuits that went nowhere

1:20:33

were filed immediately after the scandal

1:20:35

hit. Both were class actions

1:20:38

and one, two Stanford students sued eight

1:20:40

colleges alleging that the rigged system

1:20:42

denied them a fair chance to enroll at the

1:20:44

elite institutions and that the scandal

1:20:47

could tarnish their degrees. The

1:20:49

lawsuit sought damages for any student

1:20:51

who applied to one or more of those universities

1:20:53

and was rejected between 2012 and 2018. The

1:20:57

case was thrown out. In another,

1:21:00

a school teacher from Oakland sued

1:21:01

Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman,

1:21:03

and everyone else named in the indictment for

1:21:06

preventing her son from being

1:21:07

admitted to several of the colleges and

1:21:09

snared in the scandal.

1:21:11

Jennifer K. Toy was seeking

1:21:13

damages of $500 billion.

1:21:17

Billion with a B.

1:21:18

That case was also tossed.

1:21:22

In response to the scandal, universities

1:21:24

nationwide have implemented new systems,

1:21:27

policies, practices, review processes,

1:21:30

fundraising guidelines, and verification

1:21:32

protocols to rebuild the public's

1:21:35

trust in the college admissions system. But

1:21:38

it's still not airtight. For

1:21:40

one, there is no national audit system

1:21:42

verifying legitimate athletic recruits.

1:21:45

And whatever legislation has been passed has been

1:21:47

mostly toothless. Secondly,

1:21:50

there's nothing the university

1:21:52

system can do to eliminate the fundamental

1:21:54

inequalities. According to Time

1:21:57

magazine, those athletic recruited

1:21:59

mission spots are

1:22:00

still most likely to go to students from wealthy

1:22:02

families. I mean, think about it. How

1:22:04

many water polo teams are there in Gary,

1:22:07

Indiana? Probably not

1:22:09

many. Even if there are, how can

1:22:11

they compete with kids who have had nutritionist

1:22:13

and private training since they were 13 years

1:22:16

old? The playing field is not level

1:22:18

and it never will be. As long as

1:22:21

money exists. As long as privilege

1:22:23

exists. As long as people exist.

1:22:27

Expect the worst.

1:22:37

Swindled is written, researched, produced,

1:22:40

and hosted by me, a concerned citizen,

1:22:43

with original music by Trevor Howard, aka

1:22:45

The Former, aka The Key.

1:22:48

For more information about Swindled, you can visit swindledpodcast.com

1:22:52

and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and

1:22:54

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