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Copyright 2020 by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Korn, Melissa, author. | Levitz, Jennifer, author.
Title: Unacceptable : privilege, deceit & the making of the college admissions scandal / Melissa Korn, and Jennifer Levitz.
Description: New York : Portfolio / Penguin, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020017723 (print) | LCCN 2020017724 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593087725 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593087732 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Universities and collegesUnited StatesAdmissionCorrupt practices. | Universities and collegesUnited StatesAdministration.
Classification: LCC LB2351 .K65 2020 (print) | LCC LB2351 (ebook) | DDC 378.1/61dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017723
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017724
While the authors have made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the authors assume any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Cover design: Jennifer Heuer
Cover illustration: Jim Tierney
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For my parents, Rich and Amy, who always encouraged me to be curious. And for my daughter, Abby, who continues to ask why.
Melissa
For Mark, who inspires me with his tenacity and love, and for my mom, Shirley, who taught me to see stories everywhere.
Jennifer
CONTENTS
AUTHORS NOTE
T HIS BOOK IS THE culmination of more than a year of reporting and writing. We spoke, emailed, and messaged with hundreds of people to piece together the stories here, and also utilized court filings, public information requests, and myriad other records.
Many of the people we interviewed were involved in ongoing legal battles at the time of our discussions. Some still have criminal cases pending. As a result, those who agreed to speak generally asked to do so on the condition that they not be identified.
Because we relied on so many different people and written sources in retelling this narrative, readers should not assume anyone in any particular scene was a source of information or spoke to us at all. We tried to contact everyone who is mentioned in a substantive way.
We have chosen to provide pseudonyms for some of the children of those charged in the criminal cases. Specifically, we have changed the names of young adults who were not named in any court filings or identified publicly by their parents or on their own.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE RINGLEADER
SINGERS LIEUTENANTS
Igor Dvorskiy, director of West Hollywood College Preparatory School and test-site administrator
Martin Fox, a Houston athletics fixer who connected Singer with other key players
Laura Janke, a former USC assistant womens soccer coach who helped Singer create fake athletic profiles
Mark Riddell, a college entrance exam whiz and proctor who rigged tests for Singers clients
Niki Williams, a teaching assistant, cheerleading coach, and test-site administrator at Jack Yates High School in Houston
THE PARENTS
Marcia and Greg Abbott, parents who lived (respectively) in Aspen and New York, and who used Singer to rig their daughters tests
Jane Buckingham, a Beverly Hills trend forecaster who paid to have Singer fraudulently boost the ACT for her son, Jack, a student at Brentwood School
Gordon Caplan, cochairman of law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, and used Singer to cheat and raise his daughters ACT score
Robert Flaxman, a Beverly Hills developer who used Singer to rig the ACT for his daughter, Emily
Mossimo Giannulli and Lori Loughlin, a married Los Angeles fashion designer and actress who worked with Singer to pitch their daughters, Bella and Olivia, to USC as fake crew team prospects
Manuel Henriquez, the founder of Hercules Capital, a publicly traded finance company; he and his wife, Elizabeth Henriquez, worked with Singer to cheat the system for daughters Julia and Megan
Doug Hodge, an executive for bond manager Pimco, based in Newport Beach, California, who used Singers illicit services for multiple kids
Felicity Huffman, the Desperate Housewives actress, who is married to fellow actor William H. Macy and who conspired with Singer to rig the SAT for daughter Sophia
Agustin Huneeus Jr., part of a Napa Valley wine dynasty, who worked with Singer to present daughter Agustina as a phony water polo recruit
Davina and Bruce Isackson, a Hillsborough, California, couple who used Singers illegal services for two daughters
Michelle Janavs, a Newport Beach, California, mom and Hot Pockets heiress who engaged with Singer for two daughters, including to rig tests and pitch one as an athlete
Elisabeth Kimmel, a San Diego media executive who hired Singer to work with her son Spencer
Marjorie Klapper, a Menlo Park, California, jewelry designer who used Singers illicit help for her son
Toby Macfarlane, a Del Mar, California, title insurance executive who used Singer to pass off two children as bogus athletic recruits
Bill McGlashan, a San Franciscoarea private equity investor who hired Singer for his son
P. J. Sartorio, the Menlo Park, California, founder of a frozen Mexican food company who turned to Singer to rig a test for his daughter
Stephen Semprevivo, a Los Angeles business executive who used Singers shady services to help place his son Adam at Georgetown
David Sidoo, a Canadian businessman and former pro football player who paid to have Riddell take tests for two sons, Jake and Ethan
Devin Sloane, a Bel Air water-sector entrepreneur who used Singers illicit operation for his son, Matteo, then a student at the Buckley School
Morrie Tobin, a Los Angeles investor who didnt know Singer but who bribed Yale womens soccer coach Rudy Meredith to tag his daughter Sydney as a recruit