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Liberal Democrats, too lazy and stupid to compete
scholastically. This is the result of the present day inferior
California school system, once the envy of the entire free
world, after 40 years of Democrat control and parasitic
socialist union infestation.
TAGS: Cheat Lie Bribe Obama Ignorant Liberal Dumb Crime College
High School Sports USC Coach ACT Democrat LA Times, Washington
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Kiss Your Job Goodbye
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Spring has sprung, and so has a new season of scam. CEOs and
actresses have been indicted in a scheme that included bribing
standardized test administrators and college athletic coaches to
fabricate information about applicants to elite colleges that
would ensure their admission. No, this isn’t the old “donate a
library” situation — this is the new “fake your kids’ test
scores and athletic abilities” situation.
According to court documents released today, a college
counseling company called the Key engaged in a variety of scams
on behalf of applicants at the behest of their parents, often
without the kids’ knowledge. Scams included paying off SAT and
ACT test administrators to correct the responses of the real
test-takers for a higher score, having someone take the test in
place of the kids and replace the scores (a man named Igor was
noted as a particularly good test faker), or paying off college
coaches to flag applicants as athletic “recruits,” even when the
applicant did not even play that sport.
In the documents we obtained from the U.S. District Court in
Massachusetts, these tactics were sometimes referred to as the
“side door.” In some cases, the parents expressed distress at
the thought of their kids or other parents finding out what was
going on. Well, it’s kind of hard for these things to stay
private when a lot of racketeering occurred using Gmail.
Thirty-three parents have been charged, including actress Lori
Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli; and actress
Felicity Huffman. Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, was not
charged.
Below, we rounded up some of the craziest info in the
affidavits. For your reading convenience, references to CW-1 in
the indictment refer to “Cooperating Witness 1.” CW-1 is
described as “an individual who participated in the scheme. CW-1
founded, and together with others operated, the Key and “KWF.”
KWF stands for “the Key Worldwide Foundation,” the “charity”
through which some of the payments were funneled.
Ruh Ro!
In one exchange with CW-1, Huffman realized she had gotten
herself into a pickle. A counselor from her daughter’s high
school told her via email that she would proctor the test
herself (instead of having Huffman’s daughter sit for the test
at one of the specialized testing centers arranged by the
company, where the tests were fixed). The indictment states,
“Huffman forwarded the e-mail to CW-1 with the note, ‘Ruh Ro!
Looks like [my daughter’s high school] wants to provide own
proctor.’”
Another great detail: In one exchange between Huffman and CW-1,
CW-1 informs Huffman that the guy who took a standardized test
for Huffman’s older daughter had to reschedule because he had
just had a baby when her younger daughter was about to take the
test.
2,150 shares of Facebook paid for one scheme, then were written
off as charitable donation
In the indictment, a set of parents referred to as “the
Hillsborough Parents” apparently “donated 2,150 shares of
Facebook, Inc. stock to KWF as a purported charitable donation …
the Hillsborough Parents filed personal tax returns that falsely
reported total gifts to charity … a sum that included the
purported contribution to KWF.”
Benchwarmer, but make it convincing
In one email, a parent named Sloane was concerned that if their
child was recruited for athletics and went to practice, it would
become obvious that the child was “a clear misfit.” The parent
asked in an email to an employee of the company that organized
the scams,“Would the other kids know [my son] was a bench warmer
side door person?”
Photoshop was involved to make nonathletic kids appear athletic
Some cases involved Photoshopping pictures of kids playing
sports that they did not play. For example, one parent “e-mailed
CW-1 a photograph of his son purporting to play water polo, with
his right arm and upper torso exposed above the water line. In
the e-mail, Sloane asked, ‘Does this work??’ CW-1 responded:
‘Yes but a little high out of the water-no one gets that high.’”
And other kids magically grew
In some cases, the company fabricated the physical profiles sent
to coaches. The affidavit reads, “The basketball profile created
by Janke falsely listed Macfarlane’s son’s height as 6’1’’ and
indicated that he played on his high school’s varsity basketball
team … a personal statement for Macfarlane’s son, drafted by CW-
1 but ultimately not submitted to USC, described how he knew
that his height (5’5’’) would be a detriment to making his high
school’s varsity basketball team.”
“This is not TJ Maxx or Marshall’s or something like that.”
But be warned: This scam is not easy. CW-1 chastised one parent
for assuming that all it took to get their child a spot at
Stanford was CW-1 giving the Stanford sailing coach $160,000.
The parent asked “[inaudible] all it takes?” CW-1 replied,
“So–no, no, no, no. That’s not all it takes. … This is not TJ
Maxx or Marshall’s or something like that.”
*Correction: A previous version of this post erroneously stated
that actor Douglas Hodge was indicted in this case. He was not,
the indicted was ex-Pimco CEO Douglas Hodge.
https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/college-cheating-scandal-court- docs-felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin.html
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