A La Jolla woman accused of paying bribes to get her children admitted to elite universities now faces a new and very serious felony charge.
A federal grand jury on Monday indicted Elisabeth Kimmel for alleged conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.
Kimmel is one of 11 parents facing additional charges related to bribes they allegedly paid to ensure their children’s admission to the nation’s top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California.
Kimmel was arrested in March on felony mail fraud and money laundering charges.
Prosecutors claim Kimmel paid $475,000 to an intermediary, William “Rick” Singer, who promised to get Kimmel’s daughter into Georgetown and her son into USC, by inflating their qualifications.
She pleaded not guilty to those alleged crimes.
The new allegation of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery carries a prison sentence of up to five years, and a substantial fine.
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Kimmel’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment on the additional charge.
Court documents show a Jan. 17, 2020 status hearing in Kimmel’s original case. She is not required to attend that hearing at the federal courthouse in Boston.
But Kimmel is expected to appear in court soon, to enter a plea in this latest charge.
William “Rick” Singer, his purported charity and his for-profit corporation are at the center of the scandal.
Kimmel owns a luxury home above the Pacific Ocean and a condo in Las Vegas.
