Ex-Harvard senior charged with falsifying application, stealing $45k in grants

[Young Drachma]

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/20...-applications/

Ex-Harvard senior charged with fabricating life history, stealing grant money - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe

A former Harvard student was indicted Monday for falsifying information in his applications to Harvard and for several scholarships.

Adam Wheeler, 23, was indicted on 20 counts of larceny, identity fraud, falsifying an endorsement or approval, and pretending to hold a degree. Wheeler was allegedly "untruthful" in his applications to the University and in scholarship applications, according to a statement released Monday by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

As a senior in September 2009, Wheeler allegedly submitted fraudulent applications for the Harvard endorsement for both the United States Rhodes Scholarship and the Fulbright Scholarship.

His application packet included fabricated recommendations from Harvard professors and a college transcript detailing perfect grades over three years. Wheeler's resume listed numerous books he had co-authored, lectures he had given, and courses he had taught, according to authorities.

Wheeler's transgressions came to light when a Harvard professor noticed similarities between Wheeler's work and that of another professor during the application review process for the Rhodes Scholarship. The professor then compared the two pieces and voiced concerns that Wheeler plagiarized nearly the entire piece.

Wheeler’s file was referred to University officials, who decided—upon discovering the falsified transcript—to open a full review of Wheeler’s academic file. Wheeler was invited to present his case at a disciplinary hearing convened by University officials, but decided to await the decision at his home in Delaware rather than attend the meeting, according to the press release.

University officials and Harvard police then discovered that Wheeler had never attended MIT or Phillips Academy in Andover, as his file claimed. In addition, Wheeler’s SAT scores were not perfect, as conveyed in a College Board document in his file.

Wheeler's recommendations—allegedly signed by professors at Bowdoin College, which Wheeler attended before transferring to Harvard—were falsely attributed to individuals who said that they did not know Wheeler and had not written the letters, according to the press release.

The defendant is alleged to have "stolen over $45,000 in grants, scholarship and financial aid money awarded to him on applications and submissions of documents that were based on lies and reproductions of other people’s hard work,” Leone said in the statement.

This is not the first time Wheeler has fallen under scrutiny for offenses in an academic setting. He was suspended from Bowdoin due to academic dishonesty.

Wheeler was a member of the Class of 2010 who transferred to Harvard at the beginning of his sophomore year and became a resident of Kirkland House. An English concentrator, he received a Hoopes Prize in the spring of 2009 for a project that he had completed during his junior year.

“He was a good guy who didn’t talk about his academics or his life history much, but he came off as very smart. We just allowed him his privacy,” a source close to Wheeler, who did not wish to be named, said in an interview Monday.

Wheeler did not receive a Harvard degree, according to Jeff Neal, spokesperson for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The defendant will be arraigned Tuesday at the Middlesex Superior Court.

[RainMaker]

Crazy story. Do they know what his background was? I mean I'm guessing a regular guy couldn't walk in to Harvard and get by. He had to either be some kind of savant or had some educational background.

I guess the sad thing is that this guy will probably see more time behind bars than people who ripped the country off of billions of dollars.

[Galaxy]

Usually the schools (at least high school) had to send out the transcript sealed and signed. Same thing for colleges.

[molson]

I bet this is pretty common. I think you're really at a disadvantage if you put out completely honest resumes for everything. The occasional high profile criminal case beat-down for the cheater is definitely a good thing.

[TargetPractice6]

Yeah, I don't see how things like high school transcripts and SAT scores can be falsified when they have to be sent to the college by other parties. The fact that he could pull all of this off for 5 years should probably be enough to get into Harvard anyway.

[Young Drachma]

This is from the Globe story:

The Globe reports today that Wheeler allegedly forged his way into Harvard University by submitting false transcripts saying he had attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the elite Phillips Academy in Andover. He also said he scored a perfect score of 1600 on his SAT. After transferring to Harvard, he earned some $45,000 in scholarship, grants, and financial aid.

In reality, according to Verner, he scored about 1100 on his SAT, and attended high school in Delaware. He also attended Bowdoin College but was suspended for plagiarizing an essay. It was during his suspension, after the spring 2007 semester, that he applied to transfer to Harvard.

His “web of lies,” according to Verner, unraveled when he applied for prestigious Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships last fall using falsified credentials, including a fake transcript and work he plagiarized from a Harvard professor.

A Harvard professor reviewing the application for the scholarships grew suspicious of essays that Wheeler apparently plagiarized. Wheeler also allegedly forged the names of professors on letters of recommendations.

When confronted with the plagiarism allegation, Wheeler allegedly said, “Ah, I must have made a mistake. I didn’t really plagiarize it,” Verner said.

Investigators later allegedly found that Wheeler’s initial Harvard application was bogus. They discovered that he had forged a transcript from MIT with letter grades, though MIT uses a numerical system for scoring, and that he had claimed to take classes at Phillips that the academy did not offer.

Verner said in court today that Wheeler’s parents intervened when they received a telephone call from Yale about his application. The parents forced their son to tell the caller that the application was false and that he had been kicked out of Harvard.

If he hadn't applied for a Rhodes or a Fulbright, he'd probably have graduated from Harvard this year.

The New Republic also posted his resume, saying he'd applied for an internship there that he hadn't been accepted for, well before this actually got released.

In fact, Adam Wheeler recently applied for an internship at the magazine; specifically, an internship for our literary section. We did not accept him. Click here for a PDF of his rather remarkable two-page resume, in which he claims that (a) he's contracted to write several books; (b) he can speak French, Old English, Classical Armenian, and Old Persian; and (c) he's in demand on the lecture circuit. Again, the whole thing is here.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by TargetPractice6

Yeah, I don't see how things like high school transcripts and SAT scores can be falsified when they have to be sent to the college by other parties. The fact that he could pull all of this off for 5 years should probably be enough to get into Harvard anyway.

That's my take on it. Although the fact that he was cheating on the actual work is bad.

[TargetPractice6]

Originally Posted by stevew

That's my take on it. Although the fact that he was cheating on the actual work is bad.

Yeah that's pretty bad. I guess what I mean is it seems like the guy is pretty clever and resourceful. If he applied that in a positive way instead of using it to cheat then he probably would have made something of himself instead of likely heading to jail.

[stevew]

If he was able to forge all this shit and get into Harvard, I don't understand why he didn't devote his energies into getting into a really good job. And just bypassing school altogher.

[Passacaglia]

He probably got a rush knowing that he was getting away with lying and forgeries, and that made those activities more interesting to him.

[JediKooter]

And his wife is Morgan Fairchild...yeah, that's the ticket.

[Easy Mac]

So how is what he did an actual crime? As far as I can tell, he lied on his transcripts and resumes, but be never pretended to be another actual person. If all he did was get a scholarship and grants for $45k, I can't see as how that's a crime, or else we'd have to arrest any number of university faculty to wasting thousands of dollars of grants.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

So how is what he did an actual crime? As far as I can tell, he lied on his transcripts and resumes, but be never pretended to be another actual person. If all he did was get a scholarship and grants for $45k, I can't see as how that's a crime, or else we'd have to arrest any number of university faculty to wasting thousands of dollars of grants.

He was accepted on false pretenses. It was their failure, but I suspect the whole "scholarships and grants for $45k" that were earmarked for a person that he said he was, but he wasn't. That's theft. It's a sketchy definition in the sense that one might assume "Harvard failed by letting him in" but then, you don't get the be the #1 school in the country by not making an example out of someone who you feel beat your system. This makes them look bad, especially when other organizations outside of the Ivy League had already managed to discover this fraud for who he was without more than a glance or two.

Meanwhile, he had Yale calling until his parents put an end to the ruse.

[sterlingice]

He sounds like a good fit for Harvard Law

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by stevew

If he was able to forge all this shit and get into Harvard, I don't understand why he didn't devote his energies into getting into a really good job. And just bypassing school altogher.

Not that easy to just walk up and "[get] into a really good job". However, if you make "smaller" lies and get a Harvard degree, it probably opens a lot of doors. Means to an end, basically.

SI