College Admissions Scandal: Charges filed against Bay Area's Todd and Diane Blake

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Thursday, March 14, 2019
Nearly a dozen Bay Area parents involved in college admissions scam
The Bay Area parents named in the college admissions bribery scheme were entrepreneurs, investors and even a vineyard owner.More than a dozen Bay Area residents have been charged in the college admissions cheating scam, with five pleading guilty so far.

SAN FRANCISCO -- More than a dozen Bay Area residents have been charged in Operation Varsity Blues, the largest college admissions cheating scam ever prosecuted in the United States.

LIST: These Bay Area residents have been charged in alleged college admissions scam

Among those charged are Todd and Diane Blake from Ross.

Todd is an entrepreneur and investor, and Diane is an executive at retail merchandising firm Winston Retail.

According to the charging documents, their daughter didn't know.

When Todd was talking to cooperating witness about a possible IRS audit, he couldn't even remember what sport they faked his daughter playing.

Page 173 says it was asked if it was basketball. It was actually volleyball.

READ THE FULL CHARGING DOCUMENT HERE (PAGES 169-177)

Todd and Diane appeared Tuesday in San Francisco. They each have a $1 million unsecured bond. They will appear again March 29 in Boston.

This undated image shows Diane Blake.

In his Twitter profile he describes himself as a "Vanderbilt undergrad, Michigan MBA, and a Ross School Board Trustee." In fact, the Ross School District tweeted a thank you to Todd back in Dec. 2018 when his term as a board member ended.

Diane's LinkedIn profile says she's cofounder of Winston Retail Solutions and that she helped "develop, market and execute global brands including Levi's, Dockers, MTV, Reebok, and Nike."

They've been charged with agreeing to bribe a University of Southern California athletics official to get their daughter into the school as a purported volleyball recruit.

RELATED: Marin County parents, schools surprised by college admissions scandal

Todd's Twitter profile also shows him celebrating his daughter's admission to University of Southern California back in March of 2018:

Get the latest stories and videos about Operation Varsity Blues.