USC and the College Admissions Scandal: Implicated Students Not Allowed to Dodge Investigation via Withdrawal
Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are facing multiple charges associated with a massive college admissions scandal, including fraud and money laundering. Both appear unlikely to escape prison time.
Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly spent $500,000 to have their two daughters, Isabella and Olivia Giannulli, fraudulently admitted to the University of Southern California (USC) by passing the young women off as members of the university’s rowing team. Neither daughter has any experience in the sport. According to FBI wiretaps, Loughlin and Giannulli funneled $400,000 in the form of two $200,00 payments through a nonprofit and sent $100,000 in the form of two $50,000 payments to a USC coach. (See page 88 of this FBI key complaint for the details of the Loughlin-Giannulli emails and phone conversations related to the scam.)
It seems that one of the questions raised concerns whether USC allowed Isabella and Olivia Giannulli to withdraw from the university– a move that arguably could distance the Louiglin-Giannulli family from investigation by the university– and help the daughters dodge having a documented history of the fraudulent incident follow them if they apply to other colleges or universities in the future.
In a formal statement released on March 16, 2019, and updated several times since, USC said it would not allow any students associated with the scandal to withdraw until the university completes its review. Information about reviewing student status was added on April 08, 2019.
The full USC statement, with updates, is as follows:
USC Information on College Admissions Issue
April 8, 2019On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, the U.S. Justice Department announced an ongoing investigation of a college admissions scheme that targeted several universities across the country, including USC. This page provides information from USC about these issues and will be updated as new information becomes available.What is USC doing in response to the alleged admissions scheme? CONTINUE READING: USC and the College Admissions Scandal: Implicated Students Not Allowed to Dodge Investigation via Withdrawal | deutsch29