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US college admissions bribery scandal 2019

US college admissions bribery scandal 2019

A criminal conspiracy to influence admissions to elite American universities was revealed in March 2019 when US federal prosecutors filed charges against at least 50 people, after a year-long investigation dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues”.

last updated:

9 September, 2024

Meet Isabella Rose Giannulli, YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli’s sister: her mum is Lori Loughlin, who was jailed in the US college admissions scandal. Photo: @bella/Instagram

Fame and celebrity

Inside the life of Bella Giannulli: actress and daughter of Lori Loughlin

The actress and podcaster shares how her boyfriend dumped her around the time the paparazzi were hounding her family over a 2019 US college admissions scandal.

23 Sep 2024 - 6:00PM

US college scam mastermind Rick Singer gets 3½ years in prison

5 Jan 2023 - 7:37AMvideocam

Wealthy parents found guilty in first US college admissions scandal trial

9 Oct 2021 - 7:11PMvideocam

Fame and celebrity

Actress Lori Loughlin released after two months in jail for US college scam

The Full House star paid half a million dollars in bribes to get her two daughters into he University of Southern California.

29 Dec 2020 - 8:31PMvideocam

Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, leave federal court in Boston in April 2019. Photo: AP

Chinese overseas

Tycoon Jie Zhao and Harvard coach charged in US$1.5 million bribery scheme

The businessman allegedly bought coach Peter Brand’s home for nearly double its assessed value in exchange for help getting his sons into the Ivy League school.

17 Nov 2020 - 9:44PMvideocam

Actress Lori Loughlin reports to prison to start sentence for college scam

Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, paid half a million dollars in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.

31 Oct 2020 - 7:49AMvideocam

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Fame and celebrity

Actress Lori Loughlin to plead guilty in US college admissions bribery scandal

Loughlin is accused of conspiring with a consultant to pass off her two daughters as promising rowing recruits to gain admission to USC.

22 May 2020 - 3:26AM

Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli. Photo: AP

Chinese mum pleads guilty to paying US$400,000 bribe for son’s UCLA spot

Xiaoning Sui, who lives in Canada, gave the money to a fake charity run by admissions consultant William ‘Rick’ Singer

22 Feb 2020 - 8:39PMvideocam

Chinese mum to plead guilty to paying US$100,000 bribe for son’s UCLA spot

Xiaoning Sui has been detained in Spain for months, unlike 33 other parents involved in admissions scandal, who were allowed to post bond and remain out of custody.

30 Jan 2020 - 9:13PMvideocam

Fame and celebrity

Felicity Huffman released early from one of ‘10 cushiest prisons’ in US

Facility has been described as ‘Club Fed’, with past inmates including ‘Hollywood Madam’ Heidi Fleiss.

26 Oct 2019 - 9:15PM

Actress Felicity Huffman leaves federal court in Boston with her brother Moore Huffman Jnr (left) in September, after she was sentenced in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. Photo: AP

Fame and celebrity

Actress Lori Loughlin faces new charges in US college admissions scam

Full House star allegedly paid US$500,000 to get two daughters into University of Southern California, but school says they are ‘not currently enrolled’ there.

23 Oct 2019 - 9:55PM

Actress Lori Loughlin and husband, Mossimo Giannulli, exit Boston Federal Court in August. Photo: AFP

Chinese mum ‘paid US$400,000’ to have son go to UCLA as fake soccer player

Xiaoning Sui, accused of paying to get her son into UCLA as a fake soccer recruit, has become the 52nd person charged in a sweeping college admissions bribery scheme.

18 Sep 2019 - 1:06PM

Fame and celebrity

Felicity Huffman jailed for 14 days over US college admissions scam

Actress was first of 34 parents in case to be sentenced, and was also given a US$30,000 fine, 250 hours of community service and a year of supervised release.

14 Sep 2019 - 9:47PM

Ex-Stanford sailing coach jailed for a day over college admissions scandal

Judge noted that John Vandemoer had not pocketed bribes for his own gain, said prison term would be deemed already served.

13 Jun 2019 - 6:37AM

John Vandemoer, Stanford University’s former head sailing coach, leaves the federal courthouse in Boston after being sentenced for his role in the nationwide college admissions cheating scandal on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Rick Singer faked college students’ CVs. He seems to have faked his own too

William ‘Rick’ Singer has admitted to accepting money in order to get the children of wealthy clients accepted into universities. In a newly uncovered deposition, he also seems to have also lied about his own experience.

26 May 2019 - 5:37AM

William “Rick” Singer leaves Boston Federal Court after being charged with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice on March 12. Photo: Reuters

Actress Felicity Huffman pleads guilty in US college admissions scandal

Huffman pleaded guilty in federal court to a conspiracy charge related to her payment of US$15,000 to have someone secretly correct her daughter’s answers on the SAT exam.

14 May 2019 - 4:16AM

Chinese overseas

Opinion | Stanford admissions scandal is a cautionary tale for crazy rich Chinese

The backlash against Zhao Yusi, whose narrative of reaping the rewards of her own efforts earned scorn after it was revealed that her family had paid a large sum to Stanford University, is a reminder to the wealthy to be honest about their advantages.

9 May 2019 - 5:22AM

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Opinion | Why the mother of Stanford admissions scandal student Yusi Zhao is my hero

The mother of Yusi Zhao was willing to pay any price – US$6.5 million in this case – to see her daughter get an education of value. Let’s be real: it’s a mother’s nature to go to great lengths for her children, and universities need extra funding to thrive.

7 May 2019 - 3:58AM

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Hard work got me into Stanford, says student in US$6.5 million scandal

‘The admissions officers basically do not know who you are’, Zhao Yusi says in a 2017 video in which she also admits her ‘natural IQ isn’t particularly high’.

4 May 2019 - 12:23PM

Exclusive | Morgan Stanley adviser fired in admissions scandal vows to clear his name

Michael Wu introduced Chinese family to ‘fixer’ Rick Singer, who was paid US$6.5 million to help a student win acceptance to Stanford.

3 May 2019 - 10:46AMvideocam

Chinese family paid US$1.2 million for Yale spot. Why weren’t they charged?

Sherry Guo’s lawyer says her parents were duped by ‘bad actor’ exploiting language barriers and their unfamiliarity with US higher education system.

3 May 2019 - 12:46PM

Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University. Photo: Stan Godlewski via The Washington Post

Chinese student ‘paid US$6.5 million for US university place’

Chinese family allegedly paid US$6.5 million to mastermind of college-entry cheating scheme to assure child’s admission to Stanford University, US media reports.

3 May 2019 - 10:41AM

A Chinese family reportedly paid a “fixer” US$6.5 million to assure their child’s admission into Stanford University. Photo: AP

Hollywood stars face court over US college bribery scam

Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman entered no pleas to charges that they cheated and paid bribes to get their children into elite US colleges.

3 May 2019 - 11:01AM

Blowing Water | Are you killing your child’s zest for life with an education obsession?

Hong Kong’s stressed out parents and students should not overlook the virtues of a less academic path to success.

3 May 2019 - 10:47AM

Opinion | Admissions scandal brings up treatment of Asian-Americans

After the US college admissions scandal, the discourse has exacerbated the vulnerability of Asian Americans, the most unfairly treated ethnic group so far in college entry

3 May 2019 - 10:52AM

Students on campus at Harvard University. Photo: Xinhua

The true heartbreak of the college admissions scandal is it’s routine

‘Legacy places’, wealthy donations, pricey tutors and education consultants – the education systems in Hong Kong and elsewhere routinely favour the wealthy even without this most recent outrage.

3 May 2019 - 10:50AM

Actress Lori Loughlin poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli (left) and Isabella Rose Giannulli in February. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged, along with nearly 50 other people on March 12, in a scheme in which wealthy parents are accused of bribing college insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country. Photo: AP

Spurned students sue US colleges over admissions scandal

Lawsuits include one by Stanford students who say their degrees will be devalued and several by people whose ‘rights to a fair chance’ were stolen.

3 May 2019 - 10:53AM

U.S. college admission scam uncovered

3 May 2019 - 10:59AM

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