Client Duped In HK$50mn Stanford Scam: HK Lawyer

A Hong Kong lawyer has said that his client was duped into paying HK$50 million to the consultant at the centre of the sweeping US college admissions bribery scheme after the woman's daughter got into Stanford University.

Massachusetts' top federal prosecutor said in March that parents shelled out as much as US$6.5 million in the scheme, which authorities say involved bribing athletic coaches at elite universities and rigging standardised test scores.

Details about the family that paid the huge sum remained a mystery until this week but a New York Times report had named the student in question as Yusi Zhao.

A statement released overnight by Vincent Law, a partner at Mayer Brown in Hong Kong said his client gave the money to Rick Singer's foundation in 2017 after her family used his consulting services and her daughter got into the school. The attorney's statement identified the mother only as Mrs Zhao and did not provide her full name.

It said the sum was paid because she was led to believe the money would go toward helping underprivileged students.

The mother said Singer had asked her to make the donation and told her that it would support academic staff salaries, scholarships, athletic programs and "helping those students who otherwise will not be able to afford to attend Stanford".

"Since the matters concerning Mr Singer and his foundation have been widely reported, Mrs Zhao has come to realise she has been misled, her generosity has been taken advantage of, and her daughter has fallen victim to the scam," said the statement.

Law is a partner at Mayer Brown, a global legal services provider comprising associated practices in different countries that are separate entities.

His client is not among the 33 prominent parents who have been charged in the case and it's unclear whether prosecutors are still investigating the family. Authorities have suggested in court documents that more charges are coming.

Singer, who pleaded guilty in March, used his sham charity to funnel bribes to coaches and test administrators to help the children of privileged parents get into selective universities across the country, prosecutors say.

Prominent parents charged in the case include actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and Loughlin's fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli.

The mother said she – "like many families from Asia" – was not familiar with the college admissions process in the US and was led to believe that Singer's charity was legitimate. She said Singer's consulting firm "did not guarantee admission into any particular school".

"The donation is in the same nature as those that many affluent parents have been doing openly to prestigious universities," her attorney's statement said.

The NYT report said the student's father is a wealthy businessman who made his fortune in traditional Chinese medicine and health supplements.

A reporter from the paper who visited the family's home in an ultra-wealthy district on the outskirts of Beijing this week said a Ferrari, a Tesla, a Bentley and a Land Rover could be seen parked outside a California-style mansion.

Stanford said last month that it had expelled a student connected to the bribery scandal who had lied about her sailing credentials in her application. The school said overnight on Thursday that it couldn't confirm whether the student whose family paid US$6.5 million is the same student who was expelled.

University officials had previously said the student was admitted without the recommendation of former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in exchange for helping students get into the elite university.

The school said a US$500,000 contribution to the sailing programme was made several months after the student was admitted.

Stanford said it wasn't aware of the US$6.5 million payment to Singer until it was reported by the media and did not receive that amount of money from Singer or from the family working with the consultant. (AP, AFP)

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