
Ex-Harvard senior charged with fabricating life history, stealing grant money - inmygarage
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/by_globe_staff_60.html
======
pyre
> _He is charged with four counts of larceny over $250, eight counts of
> identity fraud, seven counts of falsifying an endorsement or approval and
> pretending to hold a degree._

Whenever I see these articles, I always picture some huffy duff in a suit
turning red because he was fooled, so in retaliation he throws numerous
baseless charges at the fraudster in addition to the ones that are based on
something in some sort of legal temper tantrum. Shouldn't he just have a
number of counts of fraud rather than, "as many charges as we can pile on and
make stick?"

~~~
cperciva
Usually this is done when there's some doubt about which charges will stick --
you throw everything you've got and take whatever the jury gives you, or more
likely you plea bargain down to a less serious charge.

~~~
tokenadult
What happened here in the charging is that the prosecutor realized the guy had
a pattern of just moving on and committing fraud again each time he was caught
in a nonjudicial college disciplinary process. The guy needs to understand the
gravity of his wrong-doing.

~~~
_delirium
Couldn't that be done via one actual criminal prosecution? It seems like
they're basically trying to charge him with 15 variations of the same crime,
instead of just charging him with that crime once. I guess that's not
uncommon, but still feels weird to me.

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jackowayed
I wonder if Harvard could contact whoever was the first person on the waitlist
not to get in that year and inform that person that he/she has grounds to sue
the guy for millions of dollars. It seems like a suit that the person could
win, and it would be really interesting what a jury determined was the "value"
of having a Harvard degree compared to having a degree from some other school.

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temphn
So this guy was an undocumented Harvard student without papers. Sure he
received funds from Harvard and may have falsified a few documents/ID cards,
but what's the big deal? He came there to work.

(Seriously -- the analogy to illegal immigrants is actually very strong.
Harvard students are outraged about this because they 'obeyed the rules' and
'worked hard' to get in, yet their financial aid money is going to someone who
didn't. This is very similar to the way many citizens and legal immigrants
feel about the current government failure at the southern border.)

~~~
cperciva
This isn't quite the same as the situation with illegal immigrants. This guy
received _scholarships_ which should have gone to other students -- that is,
free money, not merely a job.

Even if this guy had gotten into Harvard non-fraudulently, he probably
wouldn't have received the same scholarships without deceit.

~~~
xor_lemma
Illegal immigrants receive plenty of entitlements.

~~~
Retric
Illegal immigrants pay plenty of taxes as well. However, unless he would have
given money to their endowment I don't think Harvard would have benefited from
letting him graduate.

PS: Still I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he had showed up
to that "disciplinary action".

~~~
cperciva
_PS: Still I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he had showed
up to that "disciplinary action"._

He would have been kicked out, but would probably not be facing charges.
Universities really don't like to make things like this public.

------
wayne
Similar past cases:

\- Azia Kim from Stanford:
<http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=5120>

\- Michael Godelia from Harvard:
[http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/11/murky-past-
trail...](http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/11/murky-past-trails-man-
to-harvard/)

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chrischen
Think of all the integrity undermining that _doesn't_ get caught.

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blintson
I'm not a troll.

I don't think the law should have anything to do with this. He didn't do
anything hard. He was only able to get away with what he did because Harvard
was to lazy to verify his documents. Harvard charges $33k/semester, at that
price they can afford to take the time to verify _every_ applicant's
information.

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kylemathews
I thought this was going to be about Facebook at first...

