A $25 million racketeering and money laundering conspiracy that was at the center of the “largest college admission scam ever” saw its ringleader unmasked thanks to the Wall Street Journal. The man at the center of the scheme is 58-year-old William Rick Singer. We reported on the scandal at length yesterday.
Singer is called a “self described serial entrepreneur” who appeared to have found his niche in helping young people get into college. He was the founder of the Edge College & Career Network, the institution that helped broker bribes between the uber-wealthy and prestigious colleges. According to the company’s website, his goal was to “help alleviate the anxiety of getting into college” because he “has seen first hand the stress that the college admissions and athletics recruiting process can put on a family.”
Following yesterday’s charges, Singer pled guilty to racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. He is looking at between 15 and 19 1/2 years in prison for his crimes. During his court appearance, after a federal prosecutor ran through a number of alleged offenses committed by Singer, he confessed, saying: “Your honor, everything that [the prosecutor] said is true.”
He also admitted to the judge that he knew he was breaking the law and that he had done “many more” things. He detailed, at length, his entire test taking scheme, saying that he would often claim students had learning disabilities in order to help control testing sites.
Singer said: “If we could ensure that, we would secure a score that would be strong enough so they could get into the schools they wanted to go to.”
“The only way the scheme could work was if I could control the proctor and the site coordinator,” he continued.
He also admitted to bribing test administrators and bringing his own proctors for tests.
Singer told the court that the kids always thought they were taking the test, but that the proctor and the administrator knew it was fixed. “The kids thought they really took the test but the proctor and administrator knew. I’m absolutely responsible,” he said.
He explained that he arranged for students to write the answers on a separate sheet and then the proctor would bubble in the correct answers before the test was submitted. He also admitted to creating false sports profiles of students, simply stating he would “take a picture of the students face and put it on somebody else”.
Singer described an example of how he would operate: if a family wanted his services, he would arrange a scheme wherein they would, for example, make a $500,000 donation to a college’s athletics program and then a separate $200,000 donation to Singer’s charity, which was supposed to be for underdeserved kids. Singer’s company website says that he’s helped guide thousands of high school students on the college admission process.
His website states: “We partner with your son or daughter to identify their strengths, unlock their potential, choose the right college, position themselves for admission, and outline a course of study and extracurricular experiences to lead to a life of success.”
One of his clients, Greg Abbott, CEO of International Dispensing Corp, claimed that he heard of Singer’s services through a network of New York City mothers. Abbott had spoken to the FBI and called the entire situation “insane”.
“Literally, we were involved with this guy for our daughter to help out with college counseling and he gets f— arrested. We didn’t know he was doing this s—,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Singer is set to be sentenced in June.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
C’mon people. Sounds like Mr. Singer is a victim here. And his clients. Plus those prestigious universities. Include please, the coaches, administrators and other college staff intent on helping these poor kids to get a head start into higher learning. Everyone needs a head start, don’t they?
//SARC OFF//
Seemingly every institution of our Society; Church, State, Academy, Medicine, Law…has been discredited and now almost destroyed on the altar of either corruption or infiltration by demonic forces.
“Seemingly every institution of our Society; Church, State, Academy, Medicine, Law…has been discredited ”
Wow, I swear to God man …. as I was reading that article this morning in the NY Post I was; 1) going to post the article [too late for that], and 2) write EXACTLY what you wrote [too late for that, too].
The NY Post actually had about 6 pages dedicated to the story. After reading it, I just put the paper down, sipped on my organic blueberry-infused black tea, and thought to myself — “I just GOT to figure out a way how to get the fuck out of this crappy society.”
There is no more ignoring it, casually dismissing it as an aberration, or running away from it, as the toxic slime of corruption is just about ubiquitous globally. You know it, I know it, and the realization of just how fucked up things are is dawning on even some of the somnambulators.
Like your own icon indicates – one must fight back against the darkness. And, as is displayed here daily at TBP, it starts with just a few stalwart individuals who, as Thoreau so concisely put it, are “…striking at the root.”
I think the mistake was attributing to these institutions any credit in the first place. The best we can do – so far as I can tell – is to try to live as simply as possible and give the fuckers as little of our money as possible. I’m not there yet, but that’s my goal.
Looks like Mueller was looking for collusion in the wrong place…
The colleges and universities are in on it as well…what better way to pad their “endowment funds” and other “tax-free” scams that they are privy to…
Of course he resides in Sacramento,
Why wouldn’t he!
California is on a roll
For him to be arrested one day, then plead guilty the next… Sounds as if he’s the fall guy for the schools, sports, and parents/students. ‘I didn’t know he was rigging the tests/CVs/admission procedures! I was scammed.’ Yeah, right.
“Literally, we were involved with this guy for our daughter to help out with college counseling and he gets f— arrested. We didn’t know he was doing this s—,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Using the ‘College counseling’ trope is a dead giveaway.
White parents guilty of paying bribes to a Jewish guy to get a backdoor bypass of the regular Jewish gatekeepers of the Ivy League. Sad.
Now you know why the FBI made stopping this such a priority.
Bah. 25 million?? That’s chump change. The bankers are stealing 100s of billions yearly.
I’m sorry. I don’t get why the briber or parents are guilty or unlawful here.
It’s the people who took the bribes that unjustly took a middleman cut.
The lesson is that it’s OK to pretend athletes are students, but it’s NOT OK to pretend you’re an athlete pretending to be a student. I guess you have to draw the line somewhere.
but, but, but… the athletes pretending to be students make a lot of money for the school! Priorities!
Seriously, how much profit do colleges make off of Tennis,Crew and Women’s Soccer?