 |
| Stanford was among the prestigious universities targeted in the elaborate cheating scheme |
The mother of a Chinese student admitted Friday she paid $6.5 million to the man at the heart of a US college admission scandal but said she was duped into believing the sum was a charitable donation.
American
academia has been rocked by a colossal bribery scandal run by William
"Rick" Singer who has pleaded guilty to working with corrupt coaches,
university administrators and exam monitors to get the children of wealthy
families into prestigious colleges.
The $25
million scam, which was revealed by US prosecutors earlier this year, has seen
some 50 people charged including Hollywood actors and industry CEOs.
Most of the
cases that have come to light through indictments or guilty pleas have involved
parents paying anywhere between $15,000 and $600,000 to ensure their children
got into college.
But earlier
this week US media reported that Singer received a huge payment of $6.5 million
from a wealthy Chinese family whose daughter Yusi Zhao got into Stanford in
2017.
On Friday,
Hong Kong-based lawyers for Zhao's mother released a statement on her behalf in
which she said the payment was made but that Singer had led her to believe it
was a legitimate donation that would go towards Stanford's staff salaries and
scholarship programme.
"The
donation is in the same nature as those that many affluent parents have been
doing openly to prestigious universities," the statement read, adding they
had made it a month after their daughter was accepted into Stanford.
"Since
the matters concerning Mr Singer and his foundation have been widely reported,
Mrs Zhao has come to realise she has been misled, her generosity has been taken
advantage of, and her daughter has fallen victim to the scam," it added.
Law firm
Mayer Brown declined to give the mother's full name or say whether Yusi Zhao is
still at the prestigious Ivy League college.
The New
York Times said her father is a wealthy businessman who made his fortune in
traditional Chinese medicine and health supplements.
A reporter
from the paper who visited the family's home in an ultra-wealthy district on
the outskirts of Beijing this week said a Ferrari, a Tesla, a Bentley and a
Land Rover could be seen parked outside a California-style mansion.
Prosecutors
in the US have not filed any charges against the Zhao family.
American
colleges are highly sought after among Chinese families and a booming industry
has flourished offering consulting and test preparation advice. Chinese
students have also become a hugely lucrative demographic for those colleges.
US media
have reported only one other family paid Singer a seven figure sum -- a Chinese
family who allegedly paid $1.2 million to get their daughter into Yale.
Related Articles:
 |
"Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman (L) and fellow Hollywood actress
Lori Loughlin are among 50 people indicted in a nationwide university admissions
scam, court records showed (AFP Photo/LISA O'CONNOR, Tommaso Boddi)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.