The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that another parent has been arrested in relation to the “Varsity Blues” admissions scandal.
Chinese national Xiaoning Sui was arrested in Spain Monday night for allegedly paying college counselor Rick Singer $400,000 to get her son into UCLA. Sui will be held in Spain until U.S. authorities can extradite her to Boston.
A UCLA spokesman said the school took immediate action after the case was originally disclosed in March.
According to USA Today, Sui is the 35th parent and 52nd defendant to be charged with crimes in the nation’s college admissions scandal.
Sui reportedly worked with a tennis recruiter in Sarasota, Florida, as well as Singer, UCLA men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo, former USC women’s soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin and former USC assistant soccer coach Laura Janke.
The Wall Street Journal reported prosecutors have said that the recruiter sent photos to Janke, which she used to create a fake athletic profile to send to Salcedo. Khosroshahin also assisted with sending materials from the family to Salcedo.
Both Janke and Khosroshahin pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the scandal and are cooperating with the authorities. Salcedo pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges in March.
Sui made two payments to Singer’s fake charity, The Key Worldwide Foundation, the first for $100,000 in October 2018, and the second for $300,000 in November of the same year, after her son was admitted to the university.
According to the indictment, a translator Sui used to communicate with Singer told her on a call with Singer in October 2018, “Your son is admitted to this school through UCLA’s soccer team. That $100,000 is directly transferred to that soccer coach. So, although your son is a tennis player, because there is a place in (the) soccer team, so it is the soccer team that takes your son.”
Sui’s charges could potentially stand out from the others as her son was not only admitted to the university, but also received a 25% scholarship, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Sui is facing one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud.
The indictment comes days after actress Felicity Huffman became the first parent to be sentenced amidst the scandal, according to USA Today.
Huffman received 14 days of prison as well as a $30,000 fine, supervised release for one year and 250 hours of community service for paying $15,000 to have someone correct answers on her oldest daughter’s SAT exam.