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Mother of Chinese Stanford University student says her expelled daughter is a VICTIM in the college bribery scandal because she thought her $6.5MILLION payment was just a donation to help with scholarships - and not a bribe

A Chinese mother of a Stanford University student says she was duped into making a $6.5 million payment to the ringleader of the college a...

A Chinese mother of a Stanford University student says she was duped into making a $6.5 million payment to the ringleader of the college admissions scandal because she believed the money was going towards scholarships for needy students. 
Yusi 'Molly' Zhao, whose family lives in Beijing, was admitted to Stanford in 2017 and moved to California to attend the elite university.
The $6.5 million figure was paid to William Rick Singer's foundation the month after she was admitted.
Mrs Zhao now believes her daughter - who was expelled from the school last month - is a victim in the college bribery scam, the LA Times reports.  
A lawyer for Molly's mother issued a statement on Thursday saying Singer had told her the payment would go towards scholarships, salaries and programs for students who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it. 
She believed the payment was similar to routine donations made by other wealthy parents, the lawyer said. 
Yusi 'Molly' Zhao, whose family lives in Beijing, was admitted to Stanford in 2017 and moved to California to attend the elite university
Yusi 'Molly' Zhao, whose family lives in Beijing, was admitted to Stanford in 2017 and moved to California to attend the elite university 
'This generous act was not only done for the good of the school and its students, but also done out of the love and support of Yusi by a caring mother,' the lawyer said, adding that Mrs Zhao thought the foundation was legitimate. 
No one in the Zhao family has been charged in the college bribery scam.  
Mrs Zhao was said to be 'shocked and deeply disturbed' when details of the scheme emerged and a number of parents, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were charged. 
'Mrs Zhao has come to realize she has been misled, her generosity has been taken advantage of and her daughter has fallen victim to the scam,' the lawyer said.  
Singer ultimately presented the Chinese student as a sailing recruit to help guarantee her admission into Stanford. The school's sailing coach, John Vandemoer, has pleaded guilty to racketeering and admitted working with Singer as part of the scheme. 
The Zhao family said Singer never promised to get Molly into the school and they were 'surprised' to learn she had been admitted. 
Molly's family met Singer through a Morgan Stanley money manager. 
Her father, Tao Zhao, is the co-founder of multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company Shandong Buchang, based in China. He was among the men and women named in the Panama Papers.
DailyMail.com has learned that Stanford was quick to act when they learned about the scandal and quickly expelled Molly in late March, according to multiple sources with ties to the college.
The Stanford Daily reports that Zhao's expulsion date was March 30, three days before the school revealed an unidentified student had been ordered to leave the school for submitting false information with her application.
A spokesperson for Stanford declined to comment. 
Daddy dearest: Her father, Tao Zhao (above), is the co-founder of multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company Shandong Buchang
Daddy dearest: Her father, Tao Zhao (above), is the co-founder of multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company Shandong Buchang
Zhao's student profile has been taken down at Stanford and an email to her school account was not returned to DailyMail.com. 
No-one in her family has been charged in the case, much like no one has been charged in the case of Sherry Guo, whose parents are accused of paying $1.2 million to get their daughter into Yale.
It was first revealed last month that a Stanford student had been given the boot after her family gave $500,000 to the school's sailing coach.
That decision was announced by the president and provost of the school. He did not make mention of the money that was paid by the young woman's family but rather the fact that she lied to the school by claiming she sailed on her application.

In a bizarre twist, however, the young woman gained admission on her own, and was never actually recruited by the sailing coach at the school. 
'We determined that some of the material in the student’s application is false and, in accordance with our policies, have rescinded admission,' read the statement that was shared with students.
'Any credits earned have also been vacated. The student is no longer on Stanford’s campus.'
She was the first to be expelled by the school at that time. Vandemoer was fired on the same day he was indicted on racketeering charges.
The sailing coach, who became a cooperating witness during the investigation of the scandal, made a deal with prosecutors that will see him serve just 18 months for taking over $750,000 in kickbacks from a charity run by the mastermind behind the college admissions scandal, Singer.
It was during his March 12 hearing that the case of the young woman who has now been expelled was detailed for the first - and until then only - time.
'In late 2017, Singer brought an applicant to John Vandemoer. As part of the athlete recruiting process, Singer created a falsified sailing athletic profile to make it appear that this applicant was a real sailor,' said the judge during that hearing.
'Although [Vandemoer] did not help this candidate's application in any material way, this candidate was ultimately accepted to Stanford partly due to the fact that she had fabricated sailing credentials.'
The judge then noted: 'After her admission, Singer provided Vandemoer with $500,000 from the KWF charity, which was sent to the Stanford Sailing Program to be designated at the discretion of the Sailing Program coach to use an expendable amount.'
Vandemoer received payments in relation to three prospective students, but two decided to attend other schools and this third young woman didn't need his help to get into the school. 

The school had previously pointed out in a letter to students that 'the government did not find that any other Stanford employees were involved, and based on the government’s investigation, we are not aware of anyone who was actually admitted to Stanford with an improper recommendation from the sailing program.'
There could still be more parents and coaches indicted in the scandal however, with the Department of Justice having until the end of the week to file additional charges in the case.
A number of coaches and Singer himself struck deals with prosecutors in exchange for their guilty pleas.
Only two parents have done the same thus far due in large part to the fact that all guilty pleas will require the defendant to serve time in custody.

3 comments

  1. Oriental girls are the most feminine on earth. the mans daughter is gorgeous

    ReplyDelete
  2. So mama stupidly thought $6 million dollar "donation" was so her little darling could NOT get into that school? I thought the Chinese people were smart. Epic fail. Let mama go to jail for her stupidity.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Daughter might be a looker....but mama is as dumb as a rock....!!!

    ReplyDelete