rick singer

It’s our final episode on the College Admission Scandal where Rick Singer is the Michael Jordan of snitching! In this episode, we are having a little fun introducing the Fraudsters Roulette! There are around 40 parents to choose from and we are telling you, we are airing all their dirty laundry! Who are they? What did they do? Are they facing any sentences? And finally, we talk with Melissa and Jennifer about who the real victims of this fraud are. Don’t go anywhere because this final episode it’s gonna get hot and scammy.

TIMESTAMPS

(02:02) - If Rick Singer falls everyone falls with him! He has to win right? How Morrie Tobin flipped on Rick Singer and everything went down. 

(13:48) - Introducing the Fraudster’s Roulette for the Varsity Blues Scandal! We’ve got around 40 parents to choose from! The first one is Robert Flaxman.

(18:54) - Our next lucky fraudsters of the day are: Gordon Ernst, Peter Jan Sartorio, and Robert Zangrillo!

(31:33) - Red 18 is no other than Michelle Janavs! She is the heiress of the Hot Pockets empire and we’ll tell you, she would do anything for her kids. 

(35:46) - The complete absurdity of this case, how people threw their money away just for status ($50 million or not, the kid isn’t going to class anyway), and how this is a Nuveau Rich thing. 

(41:14) - Continuing with our Fraudster’s Roulette we talk about Jane Buckingham, just take that name in and imagine her…well it’s worst, it’s the complete dark side of this case.

(50:23) - The final fraudsters from the Fraudster’s Roulette are…the Abbotts anddd Doug Hodge!

(1:07:09) - Who were the real victims of this whole fraud? The real-life athlete kids whose photos were stolen and the intended beneficiaries. 

RESOURCES

Hot Pockets commercial

Jane Buckingham on Instagram

Greg Abbott’s book

I Wish I’d Never Met Rick Singer by Doug Hodge

Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn, Jennifer Levitz

Jennifer Levitz on Twitter

Jennifer Levitz on The Wall Street Journal 

Jennifer Levitz on LinkedIn

Melissa Korn on The Wall Street Journal

Melissa Korn on Twitter

Rick Singer finally starts selling that one thing that makes every parent vulnerable: their children's future. In this episode, we see how he reaches the peak. Finally, he is the winner of all hustlers and liars! Melissa and Jennifer are back to give us some insights on the techniques and the mechanism of Singer’s scam. How did it work? Also, we learn about his two companies and the key role they played for the scam to work, and finally, we get to see how it all blew up. Tune in and find out why Rick Singer is the greatest rat of all time!

TIMESTAMPS

(02:03) - Our grooming fraudster decided it was time to make his move helping kids into the school of their dreams and published a book called “Getting in.” So kind of him! 

(10:56) - Launching the college counselor - A tight group of wealthy white elite people hires him in the early 90s. Also, Melissa and Jennifer share with us how he did business.

(16:07) - The art of resume embellishment - Bold-faced lies and business growing. (FOMO, a hell of a drug and Singer’s business fuel!)

(22:36) - A change of luck! His time working for call centers, India, and coming back to tell more lies than ever before!

(33:36) - The Master Coach and his two companies: Edge College and Career Network, LLC, and The Key Worldwide foundation. A complete shit show! 

(37:29) - We listen to an actual conversation from Rick Singer getting hired. Also, Melissa and Jennifer give us a little more insight into the scam itself. 

(44:34) - Bribes and Cambodia - The Key Worldwide Foundation as an exempt organization under 501C3. What does that mean? How did Singer make it work?

(56:37) - Melissa and Jennifer tell us how it all blew up: Rick Singer is a rat and he is the greatest rat of all time!

RESOURCES

The Key Worldwide Overview

Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn, Jennifer Levitz

Jennifer Levitz on Twitter

Jennifer Levitz on The Wall Street Journal 

Jennifer Levitz on LinkedIn

Melissa Korn on The Wall Street Journal

Melissa Korn on Twitter

Welcome to season 2 of your favorite fraudsters podcast! We would do anything for our children, who wouldn’t? So, let’s go into the Rick Singer College Admission Scandal! In this episode, we meet Rick Singer, the man, the coach, the fraudster! Where did he come from? What is his backstory? What led him to be the protagonist of the College Admission Scandal? Jennifer Levitz and Melissa Korn, authors of the New York Times Bestseller “Unacceptable,” join us to learn more about Singer and his story. Get it on!

TIMESTAMPS

(02:38) - Let’s get into the Rick Singer College Admission Scandal! Aka parents paying a bunch of money (on top of that you also have to pay the tuition) to get their kids into private schools.

(07:46) - Jennifer Levitz and Melissa Korn, authors of the New York Times Bestseller “Unacceptable” are here to provide some wonderful background and insight on this case. 

(13:20) - Who was Rick Singer? Where did he grow up? A little bit of background on this fraudster. 

(18:07) - “I’m gonna be rich someday,” Singer’s drive to prove to other people how wrong they were about him and his big charisma. 

(27:13) - Singer getting triggered by goals, being always the winner, and becoming the coach with unorthodox motivation methods. 

(33:25) - The great epiphany - Singer realizes the kids needed to be mentored and guided on how to prepare themselves and get into college. 

RESOURCES

Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of College Admissions Scandal by Melissa Korn, Jennifer Levitz

Jennifer Levitz on Twitter

Jennifer Levitz on The Wall Street Journal 

Jennifer Levitz on LinkedIn

Melissa Korn on The Wall Street Journal

Melissa Korn on Twitter

Tab Cola “Beautiful People” Commercial (1978) 

This is the real-life story of the College Admissions Scandal that took the US by storm in 2019. Rick Singer, an elite 'college counsellor,' worked with some of the wealthiest American families to secure their kids a spot in the Nation's most coveted schools, through hefty donations and an elusive side door.
Eventually, he gets caught, and works with authorities to indict over 50 parents, including Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli (parents of influencer Olivia Jade), and celebrated actress Felicity Huffman,
We deep-dive all the sordid details of this Netflix documentary as we attempt to answer the big question-- why the wealthiest families with all the access and resources afforded to them ultimately resort to cheating.
Follow along and let us know what you think on Instagram @haveyouheardpodcast. Agree, disagree, or agree to disagree--we want to hear from you. Be sure to subscribe and write a review, it's greatly appreciated!
If you'd like to contribute to our 'Buy Me a Coffee' page to show your support, you can find that here.

Sources
Operation Varsity Blues: College Admissions Scandal (Netflix)
Private Schools Have Become Truly Obscene (Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic)

In this episode, I'm joined by Melissa Korn, a Wall Street Journal reporter who co-authored the newly released book Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal with her WSJ colleague Jennifer Levitz.

One morning in March 2019, many of America's rich and powerful woke to three hundred FBI agents at their doors. Among them were actress Felicity Huffman, designer Mossimo Giannulli, business executives and storied college coaches, with one thing in common: They'd all worked with Rick Singer. Sought after by wealthy parents as a college whisperer, Singer helped children nationwide secure spots at the schools of their dreams--for some, by any means necessary. When his scheme crumbled, more than 50 people would be criminally charged. 

In Unacceptable, veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Korn and Levitz trace the rise and ruin of the largest scam of its kind ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. With unparalleled access to primary players in the case, they reveal how Singer cashed in on the ultimate status symbol: an acceptance letter at Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, or USC. They detail how the scheme exploited existing loopholes, with bribes and lies giving already privileged families an irresistible edge.

In this episode, Melissa and I talked about how this story unfolded and what college athletic administrators should be on the lookout for in the future to prevent this from happening again.

You can follow Melissa on Twitter @MelissaKorn. 

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of my analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

You can follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram to discuss further, ask additional questions or suggest future episodes.

You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.

Need data and real-world experts to help you make decisions in your athletic department? Check out College Sports Solutions and connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.