山东步长制药股份有限公司的董事长兼联合创始人赵涛一家。
据《洛杉矶时报》报道,美国大学招生欺诈案中最大的一笔贿款650万美元来自于哪个家庭终于揭开了谜底。
The family of a Chinese student admitted to Stanford paid $6.5 million to the man at the heart of the college admissions scandal, whom they met through a Morgan Stanley financial advisor, sources familiar with the case told The Times.
据知情人士透露,斯坦福大学一名中国学生的家人早先通过摩根士丹利的一个财务顾问认识了此次招生丑闻中的核心人物,并向其支付了650万美元(约合人民币4377万元)。
Yusi Zhao, who also goes by Molly, was admitted to Stanford in the spring of 2017, and her family, who live in Beijing, paid Newport Beach college consultant William “Rick” Singer the seven-figure sum for the work he did to get their daughter into the highly selective school, according to sources familiar with the case.
据熟悉案情的人透露,赵雨思(音译)英文名为Molly,来自北京。她的家人此前向新港海滩学院的升学顾问威廉·里克·辛格支付了高达七位数的报酬,以保证他们的女儿能顺利进入斯坦福。2017年春季学期,赵雨思被斯坦福大学录取。
▲Family in China paid $6.5 million to college admissions fixer for a spot at Stanford, sources say (via latimes)
图 via stanforddaily
《斯坦福日报》直接披露了赵雨思的身份,指出她的父亲赵涛是总部位于山东菏泽的步长制药股份有限公司的董事长兼联合创始人,公司价值数十亿美元。
Yusi was expelled after the University discovered that her application contained falsified sailing credentials linked to a $500,000 payment to the University’s sailing program. She moved out of her on-campus residence on March 30, according to sources familiar with the matter — three days before the University announced the expulsion in a press release on April 2.
校方发现赵雨思的申请中有伪造的帆船证书,与支付给大学帆船项目的50万美元脱不开干系。学校于4月2日召开新闻发布会宣布开除她学籍的消息。而据知情人士透露,赵雨思在新闻发布会三天前(3月30日)就搬离了学校。
▲Expelled student’s family paid $6.5 million in scandal to secure her admission to Stanford (via stanforddaily)
与其他招生丑闻的套路基本一致,成绩不够体育来凑。
To ensure Zhao was admitted to Stanford, Singer targeted the school’s sailing program, putting her forth as a competitive sailor despite there being no indication she competed in the sport, sources familiar with the case said.
为了确保赵雨思被斯坦福录取,升学顾问辛格将目标对准了学校的帆船运动。尽管没有任何迹象表明此前赵雨思曾参与过帆船运动,但申请书里的她已然是一个非常有竞争力的帆船运动员了。
It was not immediately known with whom Singer worked inside the university. Stanford’s former sailing coach, John Vandemoer, has pleaded guilty to racketeering and admitted to working with Singer.
起初并不清楚学校内部是谁在与辛格勾结。但很快,斯坦福大学前帆船教练约翰·范德莫耶承认犯有敲诈勒索罪,并承认曾与辛格合作。
▲Family in China paid $6.5 million to college admissions fixer for a spot at Stanford, sources say (via latimes)
不过她曾在直播平台以“美国高考状元”的抬头进行过直播:
图 via 网络
自从美国招生丑闻3月份曝光以来,这笔650万美元的贿赂款格外引入注目。已有33名家长被指控在招生过程中存在欺诈贿赂行为,但没有一个人支付的数额接近这个天文数字。
For parents who wanted an expert test taker to take or correct their children’s college entrance exams, Singer admitted to typically charging $15,000 to $50,000, while those who wanted to access Singer’s “side door” — his term for using bribes to secure admission slots reserved for recruited athletes — typically paid about $250,000, according to court records and Singer’s admission.
根据庭审记录和辛格的笔录,对于想要找代考或作弊的家长,辛格通常收取1.5万至5万美元的费用,而那些想通过辛格的“侧门”(辛格的专业术语,指利用贿赂获取为运动员保留的招生名额)录取的,通常要支付25万美元左右。
The only others known to have paid Singer more than a million dollars are the parents of Sherry Guo, who paid $1.2 million for help getting their daughter into Yale, Guo’s attorney has said. They have denied any wrongdoing through their attorney, and have not been charged.
目前已知另一个付了辛格一百多万美元的人是Sherry Guo的父母,他们花了120万美元帮助女儿进入耶鲁大学。但他们通过律师否认自己有任何不当行为,也没有受到指控。
▲Family in China paid $6.5 million to college admissions fixer for a spot at Stanford, sources say (via latimes)
据《斯坦福日报》报道,Sherry是以足球特长生的身份进入耶鲁大学的,已于今年三月被开除。律师表示,郭家人都以为这120万美元是合法捐赠,他认为辛格是在利用中国家庭对美国大学录取过程缺乏了解这一短板。
辛格 图 via AP
“The amount alone shows that he was preying on the Chinese community,” Guo’s attorney told The New York Times, speaking to the Guo family’s payment.
Sherry Guo的律师在接受《纽约时报》采访时表示:“单是这笔钱就表明,辛格是在掠夺华人社区的利益。”
▲Expelled student’s family paid $6.5 million in scandal to secure her admission to Stanford (via stanforddaily)
目前,赵雨思及其家人并未被指控卷入这起丑闻,对于他们是否事先知道辛格的招生计划是非法的尚无定论,也不知道赵雨思本人是否清楚家人与辛格之间的交易。但她在斯坦福官网上的学生信息已被删除。
图 via 网络
你怎么看待这起招生丑闻?
文:A君