Bribes and back doors are the curses no system could ever get rid of. And when it comes to getting admission to Dream College, kids with rich parents often try to take advantage of their privilege. Same was happening in the USA since 2011 (according to the records). At the beginning of 2019, US Department of justices launched an investigation “Operation Varsity Blues” against some bribe cases.
Around 750 families were suspected of bribing the coaches and paying for forged standardized tests to get their children into colleges. 50 of these families have been charges, which includes business leaders to celebrities like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, and athletic coaches. Universities that prominently became part of the scandal are Yale University, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Stanford University, Georgetown University, the University of Texas, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
The scheme involved around $25 million of bribes. Students found guilty for fraud were restricted to get themselves registered in courses or get transcript by Court. Rick Singer, CEO of college admissions prep company, The Key pleaded guilty on March 12, for helping 750 families to get their kids in colleges.
Rudolph Meredith, Yale’s former women’s soccer coach confessed receiving $900,000 as a bribe to enroll students as athletes, regardless of merit. Peter Jan Sartorio, a California packaged-food entrepreneur was the first parent to plead guilty. Till April 8, 2019 Actress Felicity Huffman and 13 other people agreed to plead guilty before the court.