Supreme Court upholds prison term for education consultant who promised Harvard admission

Harvard banners in front of Widener Library are seen during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2025. The photo is unrelated to the story, [AFP/YONHAP]

 
It's illegal to lie about having “connections” with United States college admissions offices, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling.
 
The Supreme Court of Korea recently upheld a fraud conviction against a consultant who took 850 million won ($563,100) by falsely promising guaranteed admission to a top U.S. university through donations, even though the student ultimately got into a different elite school by studying harder and improving her SAT scores.
 
The high court finalized a lower-court ruling that sentenced the consultant to prison on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, according to legal sources on Wednesday. Prosecutors stated that the consultant deceived a parent whose daughter hoped to attend a top U.S. university by falsely claiming to have connections in the United States.
 

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The consultant was accused of taking 850 million won from the student’s father under the pretext of paying for a “donation-based” transfer. In the United States, donation-based admissions are not impossible, but they are not formally recognized and tend to operate only in limited, informal and exceptional ways.
 
Investigators found that the consultant in fact knew no admissions officers at elite U.S. universities and had neither the intent nor the ability to get the student admitted through any legitimate donation-based admissions route.

 
Although the original goal of entering one of three target schools fell through, her SAT score rose from 1,340 to 1,590 out of 1,600 during four months under the consultant’s guidance, and the student was nevertheless enrolled at another top U.S. university.
 
Still, the court found that the consultant had falsely claimed they could help via donation-based admission instead of through ordinary admissions counseling.

 

Harvard University banners hang in front of Widener Library during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 29, 2025. Photo is unrelated to the story, [AFP/YONHAP]

 
A lower court sentenced the consultant to two years and eight months in prison.
 
The consultant argued that the money they received was only for admissions consulting and that they had not deceived the family because the student got into a prestigious university. The court rejected this argument.

 
The court stated the consultant bore heavy criminal responsibility and that the nature of the crime was especially insidious because they took advantage of the desperation of the student and her father, who were eager to secure a transfer to a top U.S. university.

 
Regarding the student's eventual admission to and graduation from another prestigious university, the court stated that though the consultant appeared to have contributed at least somewhat to the score increase, this outcome was mostly due to her own ability and effort.
 
The court also found them guilty of inducing a woman they met on a dating app to give false testimony.

 
The sentence was reduced on appeal to one year and 10 months. The appellate court took into account that the consultant had returned part of the money and that the student had withdrawn the complaint and indicated that she did not want the consultant to be punished.
 
The Supreme Court dismissed the consultant's appeal and finalized the prison term.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI SEO-IN [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]