Former USC legendary quarterback and athletic director Pat Haden is being investigated in the college admissions cheating scandal, it has been revealed.
A source claims that Haden’s relationship with Rick Singer, who has pleaded guilty to launching the scam, has recently come under investigation.
Haden, 66, is among a group of people who are being probed by prosecutors but have not been charged in the scandal.
Former USC legendary quarterback and athletic director Pat Haden is being investigated in the college admissions cheating scandal, it has been revealed
A source claims that Haden’s relationship with Rick Singer (pictured), who has pleaded guilty to launching the scam, has recently come under investigation
Haden is a legend in the USC community. He played quarterback for the school, helping it win two national championships in the 1970s, before joining the Los Angeles Rams.
He later served as athletic director at the school for six years – from 2010 to 2016 – and has been a longtime university trustee.
The football legend told the Wall Street Journal, in a statement through his son-in-law Donnie Dixon Haden, that he knew nothing of Singer’s scheme.
‘Like many people, I was introduced to Mr Singer several years ago by a friend,’ the statement read. ‘I was unaware of his illegal activities and had no ongoing relationship with him whatsoever.’
A source has claimed that Haden introduced Singer to Donna Heinel, a USC athletic department official who became senior associate athletic director. She has since been fired and pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy in the case.
Haden is a legend in the USC community. He played quarterback for the school (left), helping it win two national championships in the 1970s, before joining the Los Angeles Rams (right)
He later served as athletic director at the school for six years – from 2010 to 2016 – and has been a longtime university trustee. He is pictured here in 2011
The source alleges that Haden brought Heinel to a meeting that was attended by Singer during a time when the athletic department was under ‘tremendous pressure’ to raise money.
They claim that Haden told Heinel she should work with Singer because he could help bring wealthy families that would make big donations to the school.
Dixon Haden has claimed that Haden and Heinel were both introduced to Singer at the same time and at the same meeting by one of Haden’s friends. The source then conceded that Haden and Heinel may have met Singer at the same time, but reiterated that Haden brought Heinel to the meeting.
Heinel allegedly accepted two $50,000 payments from Full House star Lori Loughlin and her husband to get their two daughters into USC as crew recruits.
A source has claimed that Haden introduced Singer to Donna Heinel, a USC athletic department official who became senior associate athletic director. She has since been charged in the case
Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli allegedly emailed Singer in 2016 about their daughters’ college prospects, stating that they wanted to do the necessary work to see that the girls got into USC as opposed to ASU.
Emails obtained by investigators revealed it was soon decided that bribes would be paid to have the girls recruited onto the crew team.
A short time after that, photos were taken of older daughter Isabella on a rowing machine.
Heinel then allegedly presented Isabella as a potential athletic recruit a month later and she was approved for conditional admission.
It was then asked that a check be sent to Heinel for $50,000 from Giannulli. Isabella received her admission letter the following March, which was followed by another note requesting a donation of $200,000 to Key Worldwide Foundation.
After the amount was wired to the organization, a note was returned that stated no goods or services had been exchanged for the money – which according to the documents is false.
This same exact process was then repeated with younger daughter Olivia, it is claimed.
Problems arose however when Olivia’s guidance counselor became curious as to how she managed to receive admission based on her involvement in crew.
The guidance counselor at Marymount High School apparently quizzed Olivia Jade on her USC application, knowing that the high school had no crew team, and questioned whether she was truly a crew coxswain, court documents show.
Heinel allegedly accepted two $50,000 payments from Full House star Lori Loughlin and her husband to get their daughters Isabella and Olivia Jade (pictured) into USC as crew recruits
Giannulli, who lived near the school, then apparently stormed into the guidance counselor’s office and yelled at her for asking questions, prosecutors say.
The incident apparently set off alarm bells at USC and Heinel sent a panicked voicemail to Singer.
‘I just want to make sure that, you know, I don’t want the…parents getting angry and creating any type of disturbance at the school,’ Heinel said in the voicemail later on that same day, according to the affidavit.
‘That’ll shut everything – that’ll shut everything down,’ she continued.
Dixon Haden said his father-in-law has not yet been contacted by federal authorities.
USC would not disclose whether it believed Haden had a part in the admissions scandal or whether he introduced Heinel to Singer.
The university said its internal investigation is ongoing and that it will ‘continue to cooperate fully with all law enforcement and regulatory investigations’.
‘Ensuring the integrity of the admissions process remains a top priority of university leadership,’ it added.
Fifty parents and coaches, including Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, have been charged in a plot to bribe their children’s way into some of America’s top schools.
The scheme was uncovered by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Boston, who discovered the affluent parents involved had paid a total of $6million in bribes to get their children into elite schools including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, and UCLA.
Most of those who were charged either paid to get their children higher SAT scores or faked an athletic resume that, with the participation of a bribed college coach, helped the children get accepted to a college as a team’s recruit.