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Press Release

Additional Charges Brought Against Defendant in College Admissions Case

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – The 52nd defendant charged in the college admissions case, Xiaoning Sui, was charged in a superseding indictment today with international money laundering and conspiring to commit fraud and federal programs bribery in connection with a scheme to facilitate her son’s admission to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as a purported soccer recruit.

Xiaoning Sui, 48, a Chinese national residing in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, was charged in an superseding indictment today with an expanded conspiracy charge, two counts of money laundering and three counts of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud. Sui was arrested on an indictment last week in Spain on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Sui is currently detained pending her extradition to Boston.

According to the indictment, Sui agreed with William “Rick” Singer to pay $400,000 to facilitate her son’s admission to UCLA as a purported soccer recruit, even though he did not play soccer competitively. As a result of the scheme, Sui’s son was admitted to UCLA in November 2018, and awarded a 25 percent tuition scholarship.

Case information, including the status of each defendant, charging documents and plea agreements are available here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.

The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, honest services mail fraud and federal programs bribery provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The mail fraud, honest services mail fraud, and money laundering charges each carry a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric S. Rosen, Justin D. O’Connell, Leslie A. Wright, and Kristen A. Kearney of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the court documents are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

Updated September 24, 2019