Three Real Estate Moguls Have Been Charged With Bribing Coaches to Get Their Kids into Top Colleges
Federal prosecutors revealed Tuesday that 33 individuals have been indicted following an FBI investigation into a college admission and entrance exam scam, including well-known actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.
These individuals stand accused of bribing school officials in exchange for accepting their kids as athletic recruits-although they were not-and bribing SAT and ACT exam administrators to allow their children to cheat and bring their test scores up.
Reported by The Real Deal, three real estate developers were also indicted in the scandal-Miami developer Robert Zangrillo and Los Angeles developers Bruce Isackson of WP Investments and Robert Flaxman of Crown Realty. The scandal itself involved parents allegedly paying bribes-as much as $500,000-to secure their children's spots into top schools.
Zangrillo is the founder and CEO of a private investment firm that focuses on real estate investments and venture capital. After his daughter was rejected from USC, he reportedly pleaded with the crew coach to place her on the VIP recruiting list for transfer students. According to prosecutors, he wired $200,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation and sent a $50,000 check to the USC Women's Athletics-a combined bribe of $250,000.
Los Angeles developer Bruce Isackson, who is also the founder of WP Investments, is also accused of bribing a USC coach-this time soccer-$250,000 to admit his daughter to the school. Flaxman, founder and CEO of Crown Realty Development, is said to have paid bribes under the guise of donations-$250,000 for his son to be recruited for soccer at the University of San Diego and $75,000 to help his daughter boost her ACT score.
All three developers wired money to the Key Worldwide Foundation, the "charity" group involved in the college admission scams, The Real Deal reported. Each payment was made as a "donation" to the group, which ironically was under the appearance of helping under-privileged kids.
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