Hedge Fund CEO Manuel Henriquez Steps Down Amid College Admissions Scandal
PALO ALTO (CBS SF / AP) -- The head of a Silicon Valley hedge fund who became ensnared in a massive college bribery scandal is stepping down.
Manuel Henriquez will be replaced as CEO and chairman of Hercules Capital in Palo Alto. He was arrested in New York City and released on $500,000 bail after a brief appearance in Manhattan federal court Tuesday.
Shares of the hedge fund plunged 9 percent on word of Henriquez' arrest Tuesday.
List: Bay Area Defendants Charged In College Admissions Scandal
Hercules said Wednesday that Henriquez will still hold a seat on the board and will serve as an adviser.
According to court documents obtained by KPIX 5, Henriquez and his wife, Elizabeth, paid a $25,000 bribe to get a cooperating witness to sit "side-by-side with the daughter during the exam and provided her with answers to the exam questions, and after the exam, he "gloated"...about the fact that they had cheated and gotten away with it."
Fifty people, including Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, were charged in the scheme in which wealthy parents allegedly bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the nation's most selective schools.
Federal authorities called it the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department, with the parents accused of paying an estimated $25 million in bribes.
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
