L.A. financier who tipped off feds to Rick Singer’s scam is sentenced to one year

L.A. financier who tipped off feds to Rick Singer’s college admissions scam when he was caught defrauding investors of more than $15 million gets one year in jail

  • Morrie Tobin was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after admitting he participated in stock fraud 
  • In court last year, assistant U.S. attorney Eric Rosen said the admissions probe stemmed from an investigation into the California man
  • Prosecutors said Tobin told investigators he was involved in a bribery scheme with Yale University’s women’s soccer coach, Rudolph Meredith
  • Investigators learned about WIlliam ‘Rick’ Singer during a meeting between Meredith and Tobin 

Morrie Tobin was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after admitting he participated in stock fraud

A California businessman who tipped prosecutors off to a vast U.S. college admissions cheating and fraud scheme was sentenced on Wednesday to one year in prison after admitting he participated in a stock fraud.

U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston said that under normal circumstances, Morrie Tobin, 57, would deserve eight years in prison for trying to deceive investors out of $15 million through ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes.

But he cited Tobin’s ‘substantial assistance’ in helping authorities probe not just that fraud but also an ‘infamous’ scheme in which wealthy parents sought to fraudulently secure their children’s admission to top universities.

The scheme’s mastermind, admissions consultant William ‘Rick’ Singer, is cooperating after admitting he facilitated college entrance exam cheating and used bribery to help children gain admission to colleges as fake athletic recruits.

Rudolph Meredith

Rick SInger

Prosecutors said Tobin told investigators he was involved in a bribery scheme with Yale University’s women’s soccer coach, Rudolph Meredith, left. Investigators learned about WIlliam ‘Rick’ Singer, right, during a meeting between Meredith and Tobin

To date, 55 people have been charged, including actress Lori Loughlin, who is to be sentenced next week after pleading guilty. Another defendant, test administrator Niki Williams, agreed to plead guilty Wednesday.

Tobin’s lawyer, Brian Kelly, said sending him to prison sends a ‘terrible message’ to would-be cooperating witnesses. Tobin must also pay a $100,000 fine and forfeit $4 million.

In court last year, assistant U.S. attorney Eric Rosen said the probe stemmed from an investigation into a California man’s stock fraud. That man was Tobin, Kelly confirmed in court Wednesday.

In court last year, assistant U.S. attorney Eric Rosen said the probe stemmed from an investigation into a California man's stock fraud. The man was Tobin

In court last year, assistant U.S. attorney Eric Rosen said the probe stemmed from an investigation into a California man’s stock fraud. The man was Tobin

Lori Loughlin

Felicity Huffman

Actresses Lori Loughlin (left) and Felicity Huffman (right) are among 40 other defendants who entered guilty pleas

Rosen said the man told investigators he was involved in a bribery scheme with Yale University’s women’s soccer coach, Rudolph Meredith.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation subsequently secretly recorded a meeting in which Meredith sought $450,000 for designating Tobin’s daughter as a soccer recruit.

Rosen said investigators learned about Singer during that meeting. He said Meredith then agreed to record phone calls with Singer, helping prosecutors build their case against him. Meredith pleaded guilty last year.  

The news comes as Mikaela Sanford, 34, of Folsom, California, had been accused of completing online courses and creating bogus athletic ‘profiles’ for high school students to bolster their college admission chances, making them appear to be successful student-athletes.

Sanford had worked at Key Worldwide Foundation, which was run by college consultant and accused mastermind Singer, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and other conspiracy charges and has cooperated with prosecutors. 

Sanford is the 40th defendant to agree to plead guilty, prosecutors said. The actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among other defendants who entered guilty pleas. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk