The college admissions scam (aka Operation Varsity Blues) is truly the gift that keeps on giving, in the sense that it serves as a constant, grim reminder of the myriad ways in which the wealthy and privileged exercise their considerable power to put poor and disenfranchised people at even further disadvantage. It doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon, either, as evidenced by the Wall Street Journal‘s recent report on a new revelation in the case: that the tipster who led the Feds to the college admissions scheme was Morrie Tobin, a Yale grad reportedly under investigation with the FBI for his role in a securities fraud case.
Per the Wall Street Journal, Tobin attracted the attention of the federal government for his role in a pump-and-dump scheme, or a scam that involves inflating the price of a stock in order to sell it at a profit. (Basically, it’s the same type of scheme as the one at the center of the film The Wolf of Wall Street.)
Tobin reportedly told the Feds that he had heard that the women’s soccer coach at Yale (presumably Rudy Meredith, who resigned from his post in November, was recently charged in connection to the fraud case, and has reportedly pleaded guilty) was soliciting bribes in exchange for getting Tobin’s daughter into the school. He told the Feds about the college admissions scam in exchange for leniency during sentencing.
So far, 50 people, including 33 parents and nine athletics coaches and administrators, have been charged for their involvement in the scheme, which reportedly involved parents paying William “Rick” Singer to bribe SAT and ACT test proctors to alter their children’s exam answers. Singer, who pleaded guilty to multiple charges on Tuesday and is facing a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison, is also alleged to have bribed athletics coaches and administrators, even making fake athletic profiles for applicants to ensure they would be given an admissions slot.
After agreeing to a plea deal back in November, Tobin is currently awaiting sentencing and presumably sitting back in a chair, hands behind his head, surveying the chaos he hath wrought.
