May 21, 2019 • 5 mins
Gangster Capitalism Season 1 is centered on the 2019 college admissions scandal that is exposing everyone from CEOs to celebrities. Award-winning documentarian Andrew Jenks uncovers the origins and inner workings of this unprecedented scam, introducing you to the people involved, and exploring the larger debate around higher education that is being brought to the forefront.
Gangster Capitalism is a production of C13Originals, a division of Cadence13.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Austin, senior producer of the Ballad of Billy Balls.
Thank you so much for listening. We love you, and
we'll be back with a fresh episode on Thursday morning.
But if you have some time to fill these next
few days, you should check out this new show from
C thirteen originals and award winning documentarian Andrew Jenks. It's
called Gangster Capitalism. The series is about white collar corruption,
(00:26):
and season one examine something you've probably been hearing a
lot about lately, the college admission scandal, also known as
Operation Varsity Blues. The scandal has exposed Hollywood celebrities like
Felicity Huffman and Laurie Laughlin, as well as CEOs, real
estate developers, and other business executives who are alleged to
(00:47):
have taken part in schemes involving bribery, money laundering, and fraud.
Andrew Jenks is covering the scandal as it unfolds. Each
episode of Gangster Capitalism goes deeper into the investigation and
the inner workings of the tricks that some very rich
people have been using to cheat the academic system. Jenks
(01:07):
also takes a step back to ask how could this
all happen, and where do we go from here? Here's
the trailer for Gangster Capitalism, which is available wherever you
listen to podcasts. See in a few days. So I
paid him two dollars. He made a stake. I d
with my name and his photo. He took the s
(01:30):
A t S under my name, and I got a
fourtune hundred and got into my dream school. Right now,
I feel like I'm at a red carpet event. People
(01:55):
have been waiting here for hours, lined up three deep
behind barre kids backpack just to catch a glimpse get
out of the and then the faces of this story
finally emerge, but they're not flanked by publicists. Instead, police
(02:19):
and lawyers are at their sides. I'm sorry because Felicity
Huffman and Laurie Laughlin are both at the center of
the biggest scandal in academic history. This is a big
story today. Operation Varsity Blues more on that fallout from
the college admission scandal rocking Hollywood this morning. Although Huffman
(02:44):
and Laughlin are the most well known, there are only
two of the many people charged with scamming the system
to get their kids into elite colleges. Hi guys, it's
Olivia Jade. I don't really care about school. As you
guys all know. They were led by Rick sing Or,
a con man posing as an admissions counselor, and his
(03:04):
vast network of co conspirators who exploited his client's sense
of entitlement, hubris, and obsession with status. It's the home
run of Home Runs How to Work every time. Unfortunately,
white collar crime is nothing new, but this time it's
different because the victims of these crimes are your children.
(03:30):
Welcome to Gangster Capitalism. Season one of our new podcast
series is about the college admission scandal, produced and directed
by C thirteen Originals, a division of Cadence thirteen in
partnership with me Andrew Jenks. I'm a student at USC
University of Southern California. What did you think of the
(03:53):
scandal when you first heard? I wasn't surprised. It's really
not even a secret. If you're really surprised that this
is a thing, and then I'm sorry, where have you been?
Everyone knows the richest corrupt. It's been like that forever.
I dropped out of n y U after my sophomore
year of college because it felt like the game was rigged,
(04:13):
and this story has brought all of that back into
focus for me. So I've read the Affidavid's, the indictments,
and the phone records. I went to the federal courthouse
in Boston. I've spoken with college admissions experts, attorneys, parents,
students who have cheated, and the victims and the signs.
(04:35):
You're holding fine, says Lorie. Please pay my tuition and
mine says after you get out of prison, of course.
And I'll introduce you to the team of misfits that
almost pulled it off, the ringleader, the genius from Harvard,
I gore, the ex Soviet, and the middleman a k a. Mr. Fox.
(04:57):
And is there any risk this thing blows up? In
my faith? There are a lot of ways to do this.
I can do anything and everything. At its core, this
is a story about how money is used to hurdle
the rules, and how sometimes the rules only apply to
those without money. This is a game. Just realize that
(05:21):
this is a game. This is about our priorities, are values,
our culture, and our future. Really, it's about all of us.
This is gangster capitalism. Gangster Capitalism available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Radio,
(05:45):
dot Com, and wherever podcasts are available,
Hey, it's Austin, senior producer of the Ballad of Billy Balls.
Thank you so much for listening. We love you, and
we'll be back with a fresh episode on Thursday morning.
But if you have some time to fill these next
few days, you should check out this new show from
C thirteen originals and award winning documentarian Andrew Jenks. It's
called Gangster Capitalism. The series is about white collar corruption,
(00:26):
and season one examine something you've probably been hearing a
lot about lately, the college admission scandal, also known as
Operation Varsity Blues. The scandal has exposed Hollywood celebrities like
Felicity Huffman and Laurie Laughlin, as well as CEOs, real
estate developers, and other business executives who are alleged to
(00:47):
have taken part in schemes involving bribery, money laundering, and fraud.
Andrew Jenks is covering the scandal as it unfolds. Each
episode of Gangster Capitalism goes deeper into the investigation and
the inner workings of the tricks that some very rich
people have been using to cheat the academic system. Jenks
(01:07):
also takes a step back to ask how could this
all happen, and where do we go from here? Here's
the trailer for Gangster Capitalism, which is available wherever you
listen to podcasts. See in a few days. So I
paid him two dollars. He made a stake. I d
with my name and his photo. He took the s
(01:30):
A t S under my name, and I got a
fourtune hundred and got into my dream school. Right now,
I feel like I'm at a red carpet event. People
(01:55):
have been waiting here for hours, lined up three deep
behind barre kids backpack just to catch a glimpse get
out of the and then the faces of this story
finally emerge, but they're not flanked by publicists. Instead, police
(02:19):
and lawyers are at their sides. I'm sorry because Felicity
Huffman and Laurie Laughlin are both at the center of
the biggest scandal in academic history. This is a big
story today. Operation Varsity Blues more on that fallout from
the college admission scandal rocking Hollywood this morning. Although Huffman
(02:44):
and Laughlin are the most well known, there are only
two of the many people charged with scamming the system
to get their kids into elite colleges. Hi guys, it's
Olivia Jade. I don't really care about school. As you
guys all know. They were led by Rick sing Or,
a con man posing as an admissions counselor, and his
(03:04):
vast network of co conspirators who exploited his client's sense
of entitlement, hubris, and obsession with status. It's the home
run of Home Runs How to Work every time. Unfortunately,
white collar crime is nothing new, but this time it's
different because the victims of these crimes are your children.
(03:30):
Welcome to Gangster Capitalism. Season one of our new podcast
series is about the college admission scandal, produced and directed
by C thirteen Originals, a division of Cadence thirteen in
partnership with me Andrew Jenks. I'm a student at USC
University of Southern California. What did you think of the
(03:53):
scandal when you first heard? I wasn't surprised. It's really
not even a secret. If you're really surprised that this
is a thing, and then I'm sorry, where have you been?
Everyone knows the richest corrupt. It's been like that forever.
I dropped out of n y U after my sophomore
year of college because it felt like the game was rigged,
(04:13):
and this story has brought all of that back into
focus for me. So I've read the Affidavid's, the indictments,
and the phone records. I went to the federal courthouse
in Boston. I've spoken with college admissions experts, attorneys, parents,
students who have cheated, and the victims and the signs.
(04:35):
You're holding fine, says Lorie. Please pay my tuition and
mine says after you get out of prison, of course.
And I'll introduce you to the team of misfits that
almost pulled it off, the ringleader, the genius from Harvard,
I gore, the ex Soviet, and the middleman a k a. Mr. Fox.
(04:57):
And is there any risk this thing blows up? In
my faith? There are a lot of ways to do this.
I can do anything and everything. At its core, this
is a story about how money is used to hurdle
the rules, and how sometimes the rules only apply to
those without money. This is a game. Just realize that
(05:21):
this is a game. This is about our priorities, are values,
our culture, and our future. Really, it's about all of us.
This is gangster capitalism. Gangster Capitalism available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Radio,
(05:45):
dot Com, and wherever podcasts are available,
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