Local Parents Charged In College Admissions Cheating Scandal

MENLO PARK, CA — Federal prosecutors charged Menlo Park and Atherton parents Tuesday in the largest college admissions cheating scandal in U.S. history.

According to prosecutors, Marjorie Klapper, a 50-year-old Menlo Park jewelry store owner paid to have someone take the ACT test for her son. Peter Jan Sartorio, 53-year-old packaged food entrepreneur from Menlo Park allegedly also paid an ACT test-taker for his daughter, according to court records. Finally, Atherton couple Elizabeth Henriquez, 56 and her husband 55-year-old Manuel Henrique, the founder, chairman and CEO of a publicly traded specialty finance company, repeatedly paid to have someone take tests for their children, and they bribed a Georgetown coach to falsey designate their older daughter as a tennis recruit, prosecutors allege.

They were all charged with Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Federal prosecutors indicted dozens of people — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, CEOs and college coaches — in the alleged cheating scheme for elite college admissions. According to prosecutors, parents paid a Newport Beach college prep business as much as $75,000 to have someone take SAT or ACT exams for their children. The scheme also allegedly involved the bribing of college coaches to identify the students as recruited athletes, exaggerating their abilities to boost their standings in the admission process. In some cases, the students' athletic resumes were pure fiction, according to prosecutors.

The lawsuit alleges dozens of parents paid for help cheating on college entrance exams or applications to the likes of Yale, Georgetown, University of San Diego, Stanford, UCLA and USC. It reads as a veritable who's who of the wealthy elite.

Dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," the indictment snares college coaches and SAT, ACT and college administrators in the nation's largest vere college admissions fraud case. In court documents unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors named 44 people in the $25 million scheme. The coaches include longtime UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo and USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic, according to documents released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.

"There will not be a separate admissions system for the wealthy. And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either," said Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

On Tuesday, several people named in the indictments pleaded guilty including Stanford's head sailing coach John Vandemoer. He agreed to plead guilty to racketeering charges in federal court in Boston over allegations that he took $160,000 in bribes to falsely identify two prospective students as recruits to the school's sailing team, according to Department of Justice spokeswoman Christina DiIorio-Sterling.

University officials released a statement saying they are cooperating with federal investigators and that Vandemoer has been fired. Neither of the students who are alleged to be the subject of the
scam ever actually attended the school, according to university officials.

"Based on the Department of Justice investigation to date, we have no evidence that the alleged conduct involves anyone else at Stanford or is associated with any other team," school officials said. "However, we will be undertaking an internal review to confirm that."

Thirty-three of the defendants are identified as wealthy parents accused of making the bribes. All are facing racketeering charges and nearly all were arrested and are expected to appear in various federal courts around the country Tuesday, DiIorio said.

The FBI recorded calls involving the actresses and a cooperating witness.

RELATED: 'Operation Varsity Blues:' College Cheating Scheme Names Dozens

Loughlin, best known for her role in the sitcom "Full House," and Huffman, who starred in the ABC hit show "Desperate Housewives," were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. Representatives for Loughlin and Huffman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli is a freshman at USC and a Youtube and Instagram "influencer," who posted sponsored content about being a student, the New York Times reported Tuesday. She has millions of followers. According to the newspaper, the scandal calls into question the legitimacy of her college admission, but Justice Department told reporters that no students were named in the indictment as many did not know about their parents' alleged actions.

According to the court documents, prosecutors allege William Rick Singer, who founded a college preparation business out of Newport Beach, was the mastermind behind a scheme to charge parents from $15,000 to $75,000 to pay someone to take SAT or ACT exams for their children. He allegedly bribed Los Angeles test administrator Igor Dvorsiky to allow a man to take the tests on behalf of his clients.

According to court documents, clients funneled bribes through Key Worldwide Foundation charitable accounts "to bribe coaches and university administrators at elite universities nationwide. In exchange for the bribes, the coaches and administrators agreed to designate the children of these clients as recruited athletes, or some other preferred category, thereby facilitating the children's admission to the universities."

Dozens of people were named in the case on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud to conspiracy to commit racketeering.

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City News Service and Bay City News contributed to this report.