College admissions scam mastermind sentenced to 3.5 years in federal prison | CNN

LTC Eugene Chu
..."For years, Singer paid off entrance exam administrators or proctors to inflate students' test scores and bribed coaches to designate applicants as recruits in order to to boost their chances of getting into the school.

Coaches in such sports as soccer, sailing and tennis took bribes to pretend to recruit students as athletes, regardless of their ability. Fake sports profiles were made to make students look like stars in sports they sometimes didn't even play. The bribes were typically funneled through Singer's sham charity, allowing some parents to disguise the payments as charitable donations and deduct the payments from their federal income taxes.

Singer took in more than $25 million from his clients, paid bribes totaling more than $7 million, and used more than $15 million of his clients' money for his own benefit, according to prosecutors.

"This defendant was responsible for the most massive fraud ever perpetuated on the higher education system in the United States," Frank told the judge Wednesday.

Before Singer, the toughest punishment has gone to former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who got 2 1/2 years in prison for pocketing more than $3 million in bribes.

Punishments for the parents have ranged from probation to 15 months behind bars, although the parent who received that prison sentence remains free while he appeals his conviction.

One parent, who wasn't accused of working with Singer, was acquitted on all counts stemming from accusations that he bribed Ernst to get his daughter into the school. And a judge ordered a new trial for former University of Southern California water polo Jovan Vavic, who was convicted of accepting bribes."