Here is just an extremely satisfying paragraph, from a delightful New York Times report about Los Angeles “elites” enduring “ripples of fear” as prosecutors progress toward another round of charges against as-yet unidentified parents who participated in the college admissions bribery scheme with The Edge College & Career Network:
William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the scheme, was based in Newport Beach, and many of his clients were in the Los Angeles area. Some of those clients are now grappling with a secret, nerve-racking waiting game, while fellow parents openly gloat about cheaters getting their due or whisper about which high school senior might have benefited from some shady help.
Prosecutors have reportedly informed some number of wealthy Los Angeles-area parents that they are under investigation for paying their way into William Singer’s college prep scam, which involved cooking up bogus athletic resumés for otherwise deeply unexceptional high school students and then bribing various coaches and administrators to walk their college applications through the admissions process. The investigation has already led to charges against 32 wealthy and prominent individuals, including some private equity shitbags and one or two Hollywood types. The threat of another round of charges apparently has members of “elite circles in Southern California” in a panic:
“For many of these people, this is the only thing they can think about,” said one defense lawyer in Los Angeles whose firm represents multiple parents who have not been charged, some of whom have been in contact with the government. He declined to be quoted by name, citing concerns about how that might affect his firm’s clients.
He said these clients have watched as the 33 parents already charged have been publicly shamed. They worry that they, too, could be exposed for having ties to Mr. Singer, and that, like the parents already charged, they could have been caught on recorded phone calls talking about their children and their prospects for college.
I urge you to read this entire report, which includes details about a family that allegedly paid more than $6 million to get their failchild admitted to Stanford, and about wealthy families who have already hired “white-collar defense lawyers” in anticipation of charges coming down the pike.