Article Operation varsity blues and Aunt Becky's defense

[Stephan]

Ok, I'm just gonna drop this here because I'm feeling what the Germans call schadenfreude. Yeah, I'm a terrible person, but their defense is ridiculous:

"The couple claim they did not know the money they gave to “college bribery mastermind Rick Singer” was “going to grease the palm of a USC coach to get their daughter into USC.”

"I have about one million follow up questions, but I’ll leave the big ones down below for us all the ruminate on:

• Who gives someone $500,000 to make sure their daughters get into a college and does not ask... how their $500,000 will make sure their daughters get into college?
• Do Loughlin and Giannulli genuinely think a “facilitator” costs $500,000?
• What the **** is a “facilitator” supposed to be? Like, college prep?
• Why did they give Singer photographs of their daughters and not ask them what they are for?
• Who gives photographs of their daughters working out to strangers?
• Do they really suspect anyone to believe this?
• Will Giannulli go to prison since he clearly sent $100,000 to an assistant athletic director knowing his daughters didn’t row?
• And if so, isn’t it obvious that at least he had knowledge of the bribe?"

Sources: (of course People and Jezebel are reliable sources... *cough* *cough*... still this makes me roll my eyes because I do believe that what these articles claim might be true):

Lori Loughlin and Husband 'Didn't Realize That What They Were Doing Was Illegal': Source
Lori Loughlin's Defense in the College Admissions Scandal Is Literally That She 'Didn't Know'

Disclosure: I don't know if the sources are real or made up, but if true this is beyond ridiculous.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Did they not read their child's application where it said she competed in whatever sport it was they pretended she played? They knew that was a lie...

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

To be fair this kind of thing has been going on for ages. Mr Singer's group just did a few extra (and illegal) things. 😩

 

[r2dh2]

Of course they didn't know.

It's absolutely normal to pay half a million to a "consultant", stage pictures showing your kids as part of the rowing team (when they don't even row), having somebody else fill-out the applications because your kids cannot do it, and EVEN MORE, making a public scene when the counselor of the high school gets suspicious that the applications are not completely truthful and starts asking questions.

Isn't it normal? Or in what kind of world am I living!? Jeez...

 

[brinkster130]

Aunt Becky's defense is just as funny as the name Operation Varsity Blues is.

Also, emails were released from Aunt Becky claiming her daughter couldn't figure out how to even fill out the application to USC. And the pictures of her daughters rowing. There is no way she didn't know what she was doing lol.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

My favorite story from the scandal...

And Now, Dr. Dre's Thoughts On The College Admission Scandal

His daughter got in due to good grades (please ignore the $70 million donation).

www.cracked.com

According to Dre, no shady back channels or greased palms were necessary to get his kid into a prestigious university. Good for them! That said, please ignore the fact that he and legendary music producer Jimmy Iovine donated $70 million a few years prior!

 

[Ethan Reigns]

The illegal act was not getting their daughter into university via a bribe since this is a transaction between a family and an organization that can make up whatever rules they want for admission. Large donations to a university would be one method and it is perfectly legal. The crime was writing off the bribe for tax purposes. The parents certainly knew they were doing that.

 

[Stephan]

The illegal act was not getting their daughter into university via a bribe since this is a transaction between a family and an organization that can make up whatever rules they want for admission.

Is this true? Because through the bribe they are effectively circumventing the admission rules. Also isn't it fraud?

 

[brinkster130]

Is this true? Because through the bribe they are effectively circumventing the admission rules. Also isn't it fraud?

A donation isn't illegal but a bribe is. When people make huge donations that money is given in the open and is reported by both the person donating and the school receiving it to the IRS and is taxed properly. These people who are in trouble now paid a fake non-profit which is def illegal (likely wasn't properly taxed either) and that is why she is being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. I don't know why they didn't just go the legal donation route a la Dr. Dre.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I don't know why they didn't just go the legal donation route a la Dr. Dre.

Because they also had to falsify SAT scores and their resumes. Presumably Dre's daughter was qualified enough to get into the school on her own and the donation allowed her to do so; the others, were not, so other steps had to be taken to assure they were qualified by creating fake scores and extracurricular activities.

 

[KatrinaL]

Is it terrible to think that this is not sooooo terrible? If I had children, I’d like to give them the best opportunities in life and make their life easier. I know that this is illegal and WRONG, but from my POV, this is within character. Parents want the best for their children and they try hard to make that happen. Honestly, I’m more forgiving than most the people seem to be.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

A donation isn't illegal but a bribe is. When people make huge donations that money is given in the open and is reported by both the person donating and the school receiving it to the IRS and is taxed properly. These people who are in trouble now paid a fake non-profit which is def illegal (likely wasn't properly taxed either) and that is why she is being charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. I don't know why they didn't just go the legal donation route a la Dr. Dre.

Hmm a 'donation' or 'pledge' with the implication that their kid gets in (like Dre and Kushner and countless before and after). You say potAto, I say potahto... 🙄

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Is it terrible to think that this is not sooooo terrible? If I had children, I’d like to give them the best opportunities in life and make their life easier. I know that this is illegal and WRONG, but from my POV, this is within character. Parents want the best for their children and they try hard to make that happen. Honestly, I’m more forgiving than most the people seem to be.

The greatest gift you can give your children is to be an examplar of integrity.

Not everyone belongs in university. Some people don't have the intelligence or the desire to go. I'm not counting the people who don't have the means nor am I making excuses for a system that puts the student in decades of debt. If someone wants to go to university, that person should understand that extracurricular and volunteer work is a requirement and that SAT scores give a proven indication that a person can be educated. I don't believe there should be athletic scholarships of any form even though student athletics is a great money-spinner for the universities that have a great football or basketball team because athletics is not part of an education unless the university offers a Bachelor of Basketball / Football or whatever degree. The children of these criminals are taking places that would otherwise go to legitimate students. Some classes are variable in size but some are not and the presence of people who do not belong there eliminates people who should be there. If these criminal parents have half a million to spend on corrupting an admissions system, their children already have the best opportunities in life.