A slew of CEOs charged in alleged college entrance cheating scam

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/12/a-slew-of-ceos-are-charged-in-alleged-college-entrance-cheating-scam.html

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Among those charged are Douglas Hodge, a former CEO of Pimco investment management company, William McGlashan Jr., a senior executive at TPG Capital Agustin Huneeus, head of the Huneeus vineyard in Napa Valley and Gordon Caplan, co-chairman of international law firm Willkie Farr.

Also charged was Manuel Henriquez, chairman and CEO of Hercules Technology Growth Capital, whose stock price fell more than 9 percent Tuesday afternoon, and Robert Zangrillo, CEO of Dragon Global, an investment company. Dragon Global’s website says its funds have managed investments of more than $1 billion in companies that now have over $500 billion market value, including Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Jet.com and Ulta.

Others charged include owners of a media company, private equity firm and real estate development firm. (See full list below) The indictment accuses those charged of committing crimes between 2011 and 2019. Charges include conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

For college exams, those charged in some cases posed “as the actual students, and in others by providing students with answers during the exams or by correcting their answers after they had completed the exams,” according to the criminal complaint. It also said that in many cases, the students were unaware of the cheating schemes.

SEE POSTS 1 & 2 BELOW FOR FULL LIST OF THOSE CHARGED.

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1. Defendants charged in criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud:

Gregory Abbott, 68, of New York, and his wife, Marcia Abbott 59. He is founder and chairman of International Dispensing Corp., a food and beverage packaging company.

Gamal “Aziz” Abdelaziz, 62, of Las Vegas, former president and executive director of Wynn Macau resort.

Diane Blake, 55, of San Francisco, an executive at retail merchandising firm.

Todd Blake, 53, of San Francisco, an entrepreneur and investor.

Jane Buckingham, 50, of Beverly Hills, Calif., CEO of a boutique marketing company Trendera, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles.

Gordon Caplan, 52, of Greenwich, Conn., co-chairman of Willkie Farr, which says it has 700 lawyers in 10 offices in six countries.

I-Hin “Joey” Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., operates a provider of warehousing and related services for the shipping industry.

Amy Colburn, 59, of Palo Alto, Calif.

Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, Calif.

Robert Flaxman, 62, of Laguna Beach, Calif., founder and CEO of real estate development firm Crown Realty & Development, which says it has a portfolio value over nearly $600 million for properties primarily in California, Arizona, Virginia, Idaho and North Carolina.

Mossimo Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles, fashion designer.

Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.

Manuel Henriquez, 55, of Atherton, Calif., founder, chairman and CEO of Hercules Technology Growth Capital.

Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif., former CEO of Pimco investment management company.

Felicity Huffman, 56, of Los Angeles, actress.

Agustin Huneeus Jr., 53, of San Francisco, owner of a family wine vineyard in Napa Valley.

Bruce Isackson, 61, of Hillsborough, Calif., president of a real estate development firm.

Davina Isackson, 55, of Hillsborough, Calif.

Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif., former executive of a large food manufacturer.

Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas, owner and president of a media company.

Marjorie Klapper, 50, of Menlo Park, Calif., co-owner of jewelry business.

Lori Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles, actress.

Toby MacFarlane, 56, of Del Mar, Calif., former senior executive at a title insurance company.

William McGlashan Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif., senior executive at TPG private equity firm.

Marci Palatella, 63, of Healdsburg, Calif., CEO of a liquor distribution company.

Peter Jan Sartorio, 53, of Menlo Park, Calif., packaged food entrepreneur.

Stephen Semprevivo, 53, of Los Angeles, executive at privately held provider of outsourced sales teams.

Devin Sloane, 53, of Los Angeles, founder and CEO of provider of drinking and wastewater systems.

John Wilson, 59, of Hyannis Port, Mass., founder and CEO of private equity and real estate development firm.

Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif., an associate professor of dentistry.

Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, founder and CEO of Dragon Global.

In addition:

William Rick Singer, 58, of Newport Beach, Calif., owner of the Edge College & Career Network and CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy and money laundering.

Mark Riddell, 36, of Palmetto, Fla., was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, 51, of Madison, Conn., former head women’s soccer coach at Yale University, was charged in an information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

John Vandemoer, 41, of Stanford, Calif., the former sailing coach at Stanford University, was charged in an information with racketeering conspiracy.

David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada, was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sidoo was arrested on Friday in San Jose, California, and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday. A date for his initial appearance in federal court in Boston has not been scheduled.

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2. The following people were charged with racketeering conspiracy:

Igor Dvorskiy, 52, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., director of a private elementary and high school in Los Angeles and a test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

Gordon Ernst, 52, of Chevy Chase, Md., former head coach of men and women’s tennis at Georgetown University.

William Ferguson, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., former women’s volleyball coach at Wake Forest University.

Martin Fox, 62, of Houston, president of a private tennis academy in Houston.

Donna Heinel, 57, of Long Beach, Calif., senior associate athletic director at the University of Southern California.

Laura Janke, 36, of North Hollywood, Calif., former assistant coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California.

Ali Khoroshahin, 49, of Fountain Valley, Calif., former head coach of women’s soccer at the University of Southern California.

Steven Masera, 69, of Folsom, Calif., accountant and financial officer for the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

Jorge Salcedo, 46, of Los Angeles, former head coach of men’s soccer at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Mikaela Sanford, 32, of Folsom, Calif., employee of the Edge College & Career Network and the Key Worldwide Foundation.

Jovan Vavic, 57, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., former water polo coach at the University of Southern California.

Niki Williams, 44, of Houston, assistant teacher at a Houston high school and test administrator for the College Board and ACT.

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3. How can they charge Felicity Huffman and not William H. Macy?

According to the legal docs (stolen from Leghorn21 in another post!), he was aware of the deal, made the payment to the fake charity and met with CW-1, one of the primary bad guys.

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4. And why is the media focusing on the 2 actresses instead of their husbands and all the male CEOs?

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5. I understand the focus on the entertainment figures.

Theirs are the names that Joe and Mary Q. Public are most likely to know, so they'll listen to the story. But why is Huffman charged and not William H. Macy? Lori Loughlin's husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli was charged.

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6. Kick