Hillsborough​ Couple Charged In College Admissions Cheating Case

LOS ANGELES, CA — Federal prosecutors charged a Hillsborough couple Tuesday in the largest college admissions cheating scandal in U.S. history.

Davina Isackson, 55, and her husband 61-year-old Bruce Isackson, the president of a real estate development firm in Woodside, were charged with Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. According to prosecutors, the pair agreed to hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get their daughters into USC and UCLA as bogus athletic recruits.

Federal prosecutors indicted dozens of people — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, CEOs and college coaches — in the alleged cheating scheme for elite college admissions. According to prosecutors, parents paid a Newport Beach college prep business as much as $75,000 to have someone take SAT or ACT exams for their children. The scheme also allegedly involved the bribing of college coaches to identify the students as recruited athletes, exaggerating their abilities to boost their standings in the admission process. In some cases, the students' athletic resumes were pure fiction, according to prosecutors.

Such was the case with the Isackson's daughters, according to prosecutors.

Pleased with the results, Davina Isackson emailed the college prep business, “I know it has been a rough ride but I thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for your persistence, creativity and commitment towards helping [our daughter]” according to court documents.

The lawsuit alleges dozens of parents paid for help cheating on college entrance exams or applications to the likes of Yale, Georgetown, University of San Diego, Stanford, UCLA and USC. It reads as a veritable who's who of the wealthy elite.

Dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," the indictment snares college coaches and SAT, ACT and college administrators in the nation's largest vere college admissions fraud case. In court documents unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors named 44 people in the $25 million scheme. The coaches include longtime UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo and USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic, according to documents released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.

"There will not be a separate admissions system for the wealthy. And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either," said Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

On Tuesday, several people named in the indictments pleaded guilty including Stanford's head sailing coach John Vandemoer. He agreed to plead guilty to racketeering charges in federal court in Boston over allegations that he took $160,000 in bribes to falsely identify two prospective students as recruits to the school's sailing team, according to Department of Justice spokeswoman Christina DiIorio-Sterling.

University officials released a statement saying they are cooperating with federal investigators and that Vandemoer has been fired. Neither of the students who are alleged to be the subject of the
scam ever actually attended the school, according to university officials.

"Based on the Department of Justice investigation to date, we have no evidence that the alleged conduct involves anyone else at Stanford or is associated with any other team," school officials said. "However, we will be undertaking an internal review to confirm that."

Thirty-three of the defendants are identified as wealthy parents accused of making the bribes. All are facing racketeering charges and nearly all were arrested and are expected to appear in various federal courts around the country Tuesday, DiIorio said.

The FBI recorded calls involving the actresses and a cooperating witness.

RELATED: 'Operation Varsity Blues:' College Cheating Scheme Names Dozens

According to the court documents, prosecutors allege William Rick Singer, who founded a college preparation business out of Newport Beach, was the mastermind behind a scheme to charge parents from $15,000 to $75,000 to pay someone to take SAT or ACT exams for their children. He allegedly bribed Los Angeles test administrator Igor Dvorsiky to allow a man to take the tests on behalf of his clients.

According to court documents, clients funneled bribes through Key Worldwide Foundation charitable accounts "to bribe coaches and university administrators at elite universities nationwide. In exchange for the bribes, the coaches and administrators agreed to designate the children of these clients as recruited athletes, or some other preferred category, thereby facilitating the children's admission to the universities."

Dozens of people were named in the case on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud to conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Operation Varsity Blues by Paige Austin on Scribd

City News Service and Bay City News contributed to this report.