美曝出名校入學(xué)舞弊案

美曝出名校入學(xué)舞弊案 多位好萊塢明星和社會名流涉案

Felicity Huffman among dozens charged over admissions fraud at top US schools

你以為只有中國的父母才為孩子的成績操碎心?外國的家長也同樣為了子女的入學(xué)問題想盡辦法甚至鋌而走險，這其中就包括我們熟知的“絕望主婦”菲麗西提·霍夫曼，為了讓孩子進(jìn)名牌大學(xué)，不惜在入學(xué)考試中舞弊，結(jié)果事發(fā)被捕。

這樁入學(xué)欺詐案牽涉多位好萊塢明星和社會名流，出動了200名聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局特工，涉案大學(xué)包括斯坦福、耶魯?shù)让绹＃靼甘侄伟ㄙV賂、替考、作弊等。

US federal prosecutors have charged Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, along with almost 50 other people, over a $25m scheme to help wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.

美國聯(lián)邦檢察官起訴好萊塢演員菲麗西提·霍夫曼和洛瑞·洛夫林及其他近50人參與一起欺詐騙局，用賄賂的手段幫助他們這些富有美國人的子女進(jìn)入耶魯、喬治城、斯坦福和南加州等頂尖大學(xué)，涉案金額達(dá)2500萬美元(1.68億元人民幣)。

Huffman appeared in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, where a magistrate judge said she could be released on a $250,000 bond. The judge ordered the Desperate Housewives star to restrict her travel to the continental United States. Huffman’s husband, actor William H Macy, attended his wife’s initial court appearance. He has not been charged and authorities have not said why.

12日下午，曾主演《絕望主婦》的霍夫曼在洛杉磯的法庭露面，一名當(dāng)?shù)胤ü俜Q只要交足25萬美元的保釋金就可以釋放。法官命令霍夫曼只能在美國大陸的范圍內(nèi)活動。她的丈夫、演員威廉·H·梅西出席了妻子的首次庭審。他沒有被起訴，當(dāng)局也沒有說明原因。

Two hundred FBI agents were involved in the investigation, dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues”, which exposed how parents bribed college coaches and insiders at testing centers to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

聯(lián)邦檢察官12日稱，200名聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局特工參與了這次名為“校園藍(lán)調(diào)行動”的調(diào)查，調(diào)查揭露了父母們?yōu)榱俗屪优M(jìn)入美國最頂尖的大學(xué)是如何賄賂大學(xué)教練和考試中心的內(nèi)部人員的。

William “Rick” Singer, 58, was charged by federal prosecutors in Boston with running the racketeering scheme through his Edge College & Career Network, which served a roster of clients including chief executives and Hollywood actors.

聯(lián)邦檢察官在波士頓指控現(xiàn)年58歲的威廉·里克·辛格通過他的“邊際學(xué)院和職業(yè)網(wǎng)”實施欺詐騙局，這個網(wǎng)站所服務(wù)的客戶包括多位公司總監(jiān)和好萊塢演員。

racketeering[,ræki'ti?ri?]: n. 敲詐勒索;詐騙

Thirty-three parents, including Huffman and Loughlin, were charged, as well as 13 college sports coaches and associates of Singer’s business. Dozens, including Huffman, were arrested by midday in what authorities called a “conspiracy nationwide in scope”.

包括霍夫曼和洛夫林在內(nèi)的33名父母以及13名大學(xué)體育教練和辛格的合伙人被起訴。包括霍夫曼在內(nèi)的幾十人因參與當(dāng)局所稱的“全國范圍的合謀”而在案發(fā)當(dāng)天正午前被捕。

"These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege,” Andrew Lelling, the US attorney for the district of Massachusetts, said in a press conference on Tuesday morning. “Based on the charges unsealed today, all of them knowingly conspired with Singer and others to … buy their children’s admission to elite schools through fraud.”

美國麻省地區(qū)的檢察官安德魯·萊令在12日早上的新聞發(fā)布會上說：“這些父母都是富豪權(quán)貴。基于今日提出的指控，所有這些人都是在知情的情況下與辛格等人合謀，通過賄賂等欺詐手段讓孩子進(jìn)入名校。”

Lelling said the parents included CEOs, successful securities and real estate traders, a fashion designer and the co-chairman of a global law firm.

萊令說，這些父母包括首席執(zhí)行官、成功的證券和地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人、時裝設(shè)計師和國際律師事務(wù)所的聯(lián)合主席。

Parents spent anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5m to guarantee their children’s admission, officials said.

官員稱，為了保證子女進(jìn)入名校，這些父母花費的錢從20萬美元到650萬美元不等。

Huffman and Macy are accused of making a $15,000 payment disguised as a charitable donation as part of a scheme to allow their daughter to take part in the college entrance-exam cheating scam. Macy is not named in the filings and has not been indicted.

霍夫曼和梅西被控將1.5萬美元賄賂包裝成慈善捐款，從而讓女兒可以在大學(xué)入學(xué)考試中作弊。梅西的名字沒有出現(xiàn)在卷宗里，也沒有被起訴。

According to charging documents, Singer’s operation arranged for examiners to take college admissions exams in place of his clients’ children, advise them of correct answers, or change their test answers after they had been completed. Lelling said that in cases where the test was being administered for the second time, scores were raised in a calculated way so as not to raise suspicion.

起訴書顯示，辛格安排“槍手”在大學(xué)入學(xué)考試中為客戶的子女替考、提供正確答案或在答題結(jié)束后給他們改答案。萊令說，在第二次對試卷動手腳時，會在不讓人生疑的前提下適當(dāng)提高考試分?jǐn)?shù)。

In the charging documents, prosecutors produced a handwriting sample a student was asked to submit so that a fraudulent test-taker could try to match it.

在起訴書中，檢察官還提供了一名學(xué)生被要求提交的手寫樣本，這樣“槍手”才能寫出相仿的字跡。

In other cases, Singer allegedly conspired with college athletic coaches for applicants to be listed as recruited athletes, even if, as in several cases, they had never even played the sport in question. Pictures of students’ heads were even Photoshopped on to the bodies of athletes to create fake image profiles.

據(jù)稱，辛格還和大學(xué)體育教練勾結(jié)，讓一些考生以體育特長生的身份被錄取，盡管這些考生可能根本不會這項運動。有些學(xué)生的頭部甚至被P到運動員的身體上來偽造檔案照片。

The coaches worked at such schools as Stanford, Georgetown, Wake Forest, the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles.

涉案教練供職于斯坦福大學(xué)、喬治城大學(xué)、維克森林大學(xué)、南加州大學(xué)、加利福尼亞大學(xué)、洛杉磯大學(xué)等高校。

In one exchange captured in the complaint, a parent is asked for a photo of his son “a little bit in action” so he could be photoshopped onto a football player in an attempt to be admitted at USC.

在起訴書中提到一段對話，一名家長被要求提交一張兒子“動起來”的照片，這樣才能被P到一名足球運動員的照片上，以便被南加州大學(xué)錄取。

"The way the world works these days is unbelievable,” the father replied, while agreeing to look for a suitable image.

“如今這個世界運作的方式真是讓人難以置信。”這位父親說道，并答應(yīng)會去找合適的照片。

Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith was among those caught up in the investigation, which prosecutors said took over a year to complete. Meredith is accused of accepting a $400,000 check from the family of a Yale applicant, and facilitating her admission to the university as part of the women’s soccer team, according to filings.

耶魯大學(xué)前女子足球隊教練魯?shù)?middot;梅雷迪思也是被調(diào)查的一員，檢察官稱花了一年多的時間才完成了這項調(diào)查。根據(jù)起訴書，梅雷迪思被控從申請上耶魯大學(xué)的一名考生的家人那里收到了一張40萬美元的支票，并幫助她作為女子足球員的一員進(jìn)入了耶魯大學(xué)。

Loughlin, who was charged along with her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, appeared in the ABC sitcom Full House, while Huffman starred in ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Both were charged with fraud and conspiracy.

曾出演美國廣播公司的情景喜劇《歡樂滿屋》的洛夫林和她的時裝設(shè)計師丈夫莫西莫·賈奴里一同被起訴?；舴蚵餮莸摹督^望主婦》也同樣出自美國廣播公司。洛夫林和霍夫曼均被控欺詐和共謀罪。

Court papers said a cooperating witness met with Huffman and Macy at their Los Angeles home and explained to them that he “controlled” a testing center and could have somebody secretly change her daughter’s answers in a college entrance exam. The person told investigators that the couple agreed to the plan.

法庭文書稱，一名合作證人曾與霍夫曼和梅西在他們洛杉磯的家中會面，并向他們解釋自己“控制”了一個考試中心，可以安排讓人在大學(xué)入學(xué)考試中偷偷給霍夫曼的女兒改答案。這個人告訴調(diào)查人員說，霍夫曼夫婦同意了這一計劃。

Lelling said it “remains to be seen if we charge any students” and that the colleges themselves “are not considered co-conspirators”. Authorities said in many cases the teenagers were not aware of the fraud.

萊令說“尚未決定是否要起訴學(xué)生”，另外不會將這些大學(xué)“視為同謀者”。當(dāng)局稱，很多情況下，孩子們對欺詐行為都不知情。