The parent who plunked down a whopping $6.5 million as part of the nationwide college admissions scandal remains a mystery nearly two weeks after prosecutors indicted 50 people in connection with the scheme, according to a new report.
The deep-pocketed mom or dad paid the massive sum to get his or her children into elite schools, the Los Angeles Times reported. The names of the schools involved are also unknown.
While prosecutors have spoken about the $6.5 million figure at court and at a news conference, the hundreds of pages of charging documents make no mention of who was behind the alleged payment, according to the report.
“The name was not divulged,” Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Boston, told the paper in an email. “We did not tie the amount to anyone by name. That is not public.”
Sterling would not say whether the person who allegedly made the payment is among those already charged in the scheme. But that’s probably not the case, because court records show no one else paid anything close to that amount, the paper reported.
Andrew Lelling, the US attorney for Massachusetts, told the paper the case is ongoing.
A source with knowledge of the case told the outlet that federal authorities are demanding any names not included in the charges filed at Boston federal court.
Some of the parents already charged have been pressured to connect prosecutors to others involved in the scheme, according to the report.
While it’s not clear exactly how many people were involved in the scam, plot mastermind William “Rick” Singer had more than 700 clients, according to the report.
Wealthy parents allegedly paid Singer to help their kids cheat on college admissions tests and falsify their athletic records.
Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, along with Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have been charged in the case.