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Chinese Family at Heart of $6.5 Million Stanford Scam Claims Innocence

By Tanner Brown / May 05, 2019 04:13 PM / World

Hoover Tower is seen at Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States on March 13, 2019. More than 40 people, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, have been prosecuted in a college admission bribery scheme.

Hoover Tower is seen at Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States on March 13, 2019. More than 40 people, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, have been prosecuted in a college admission bribery scheme.

The Chinese family alleged to have paid $6.5 million to get their daughter into Stanford say the financial contribution was a charitable donation and that they are victims in a widening admissions scandal.

Zhao Yusi, the daughter of the chairman of a Chinese pharmaceutical company, is suspected of entering the prestigious school using a fake sports resume. The allegedly fraudulent documents were reportedly procured by the man at the center of the scandal — William “Rick” Singer — who has already pleaded guilty to a number of crimes relating to the dozens of students he fraudulently helped get into elite schools.

No one from Zhao’s family has yet been charged. But 33 other parents have, for allegedly paying $15,000 to $75,000 per student for falsified entrance exams, and $100,000 to $400,000 for athletics-related scams.

If Zhao’s family were indeed complicit in the fraud, the amount they paid would dwarf the amount others had paid.

The only other student caught up in the scandal who allegedly paid over a $1 million is also Chinese. Sherry Guo got into Yale also through Singers’ dealings.

The Guo family claims that language and cultural barriers prevented them from fully realizing the illicit nature of Singers’ activities. No one from Guo’s family has yet been charged with a crime.

Related: How Exam Stress Pushed a Chinese Schoolgirl Into Drug Addiction

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