Caught in the Middle of Their Parents’ Bribery Schemes, Students Stay Silent

A bribery scandal that helped children of wealthy parents secure admission to elite colleges or appear to get higher standardized-test scores has led to unwanted attention for those students. The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled court documents on Tuesday that detailed how the accused parents had paid more than $20 million to a nonprofit organization, the Key Worldwide Foundation, to help get their children admitted as recruits for sports they did not play, or to submit SAT or ACT scores on tests taken by a third party.

The affected children — many of whom were admitted to the colleges thanks to their parents’ alleged involvement in the bribery scheme — have not spoken publicly, and those with high-profile families have gone on social-media lockdown. No students were named or indicted by the department.

“As to charges against them, we are considering that,” said Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts, at a news conference on Tuesday. It “wasn’t an accident” that no children had been charged, he said. Prosecutors maintained that the parents were the main conspirators, and students’ knowledge of the schemes varied.

Olivia Jade Giannulli, whose parents are named in the complaint, is a daughter of the actress Lori Loughlin and the fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli. Olivia Giannulli has a strong online presence, with nearly two million YouTube subscribers and more than a million followers on Instagram. She has sponsorships with Sephora and Amazon, and the latter sponsored an Instagram post about products for her freshman dorm room.

Admission Through the ‘Side Door’

Dozens of people, including famous actors, college coaches, and a university administrator, have been charged by federal prosecutors for their alleged roles in an admissions-bribery scheme involving Yale, Stanford, and other elite institutions.

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An affidavit released by the Justice Department states that her parents paid up to $500,000 to have Giannulli and her younger sister accepted as crew recruits at the University of Southern California, even though neither had rowing experience. At the time, Olivia Giannulli’s academic qualifications were “just below the low end of USC’s admissions standards,” according to the affidavit. She enrolled at the university in the fall of 2018.

In an email between Mossimo Giannulli and a witness in the case, he wrote that his daughter was “very excited, and both Lori and I are very appreciative of your efforts and end result,” according to the court documents.

Following the indictment, commenters quickly laid siege to Giannulli’s social-media presence and her YouTube channel. Her Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube accounts remain public. Some commenters are demanding she be expelled.

The news renewed attention to a video last August in which Giannulli spoke indifferently about college, and drew sharp criticism as a result.

“I want the experience of game days and partying,” she said in the video. “I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”

Giannulli did not respond to a request for comment via her USC email or through her agent.

Some Students Took Part

The affidavit also suggests that some students were aware of bribes paid on their behalf. One is Isabelle Henriquez, daughter of Manuel Henriquez, founder and chief executive of Hercules Capital, a venture-capital firm. The Henriquez Family Trust allegedly spent at least $400,000 to get Isabelle into Georgetown University.

Henriquez’s parents paid $25,000 to have her take the SAT with a proctor, who then corrected her answers, according to court documents.

The complaint also says that Isabelle, now a junior at Georgetown, worked with the Key Worldwide Foundation’s founder, William (Rick) Singer, to ensure that she was designated a tennis recruit for Georgetown, even though she never participated in an important tournament in high school.

According to the Justice Department, Henriquez and her mother were instructed to send a PDF of test scores and a high-school transcript to Gordon Ernst, Georgetown’s head coach of tennis, along with a letter drafted by the Key Foundation and sent to Ernst in the student’s name. Henriquez’s mother told the Key group that her daughter was “on it.”

The letter read in part: “I have been really successful this summer playing tennis around the country. I am looking forward to having a chance to be part of the Georgetown tennis team and make a positive contribution to your team’s success.”

Henriquez not only wrote to the coach but also rewrote her admissions essay to emphasize her love for the sport, adding that she was spending “three-four hours a day grinding out on and off court workouts with the hopes of becoming successful enough to play college tennis especially at Georgetown.”

Henriquez did not respond to a request for comment.

‘She Doesn’t Know.’

Matt Hill, media-relations manager at Georgetown, said the university would “refrain from commenting on individual students, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.”

Still, most of the parents implicated in the bribery schemes went to great lengths to keep their children unaware of their plans. According to the affidavit, Singer assured his clients that their children would not know how their applications were being manipulated.

Gordon Caplan, a lawyer and co-chairman of the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, allegedly paid Singer’s group to have a proctor correct his daughter’s answers on the SAT after she had completed the test.

Singer is quoted in court documents as saying, “That’s how simple it is. She doesn’t know. Nobody knows what happens. It happened, she feels great about herself.”

Michelle Janavs, a former executive for a food manufacturer, paid at least $50,000 to have her oldest daughter admitted to USC as a beach-volleyball recruit. Janavs told Singer that she wanted to set up a similar arrangement for her younger daughter but was worried that the daughter would find out what she was doing.

According to a transcript of a phone conversation included in the court filings, Janavs said she was concerned that her younger daughter’s desire to retake the ACT until she scored a 34 would complicate the scheme.

“How do you do this without telling the kids what you’re doing?” Janavs said. “She’s smart, she’s going to figure this out. She already thinks I’m up to, like, no good.”

Still in High School

Prosecutors have no authority over how colleges respond to students already admitted through the schemes. And it’s unclear how the bribery scandal will affect students who are applying to college.

Agustin Huneeus Jr., a Napa Valley vintner, and William McGlashan Jr., an executive at the private-equity firm TPG, both have children at the Marin Academy, a private prep school in California, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

McGlashan worked with Singer’s company to schedule his son’s ACT at a separate exam center instead of at the Marin Academy. At the other center a proctor corrected his son’s answers after the exam, according to the affidavit.

In a written statement, the prep school said it was shocked by the charges, expressing its concern for the effect the case would have on the Huneeus and McGlashan children. The school added that its students generally take the SAT or ACT at the academy, where exams are proctored by the faculty.

“In fact, the complaint indicates the parents who were charged made arrangements for their students to take the tests at a site other than MA,” the statement says.

Jane Buckingham, chief executive of a marketing company, paid Singer’s company to have a proctor take the ACT in place of her son, and planned the same process for her daughter, Lillia Buckingham. Lillia is a teenage actress with more than a million Instagram followers, and her social-media accounts are now private. Buckingham’s children are still in high school; she wanted her son to get into USC, according to the affidavit.

The University of Southern California said in a written statement that it was investigating the allegations: “USC is in the process of identifying any funds received by the university in connection with this alleged scheme. Additionally, the university is reviewing its admissions process broadly to ensure that such actions do not occur going forward.”

Follow Terry Nguyen on Twitter at @terrygtnguyen, or email her at terry.nguyen@chronicle.com.

Follow Zipporah Osei on Twitter at @zipporahosei, or email her at zipporah.osei@chronicle.com.