The mother of a Chinese student admitted to the U.S. university of Stanford said on Friday that she paid 6.5 million U.S. dollars to the man at the heart of a U.S. college admissions scandal, but said she was duped into believing the sum was a charitable donation.

Yusi Zhao was admitted to Stanford in the spring of 2017, and her family paid the seven-figure sum to the foundation of William "Rick" Singer, who told her mother the donation was "for the salaries of academic staff, scholarships, athletics programs and helping those students who otherwise will not be able to afford to attend Stanford."

Prosecutors in the U.S. have not filed any charges against the Zhao family.

Singer, the ringleader behind the scam, has pleaded guilty to working with corrupt coaches, university administrators and exam monitors to get the children of wealthy families into prestigious colleges. 

The scam, which was revealed by U.S. prosecutors earlier this year, has seen some 50 people charged including Hollywood actors and industry CEOs.

The response of the Chinese family

On Friday, Hong Kong-based lawyers for Zhao's mother released a statement on her behalf in which she said the payment was made but that Singer had led her to believe it was a legitimate donation.

"The donation is in the same nature as those that many affluent parents have been doing openly to prestigious universities," the statement read, adding they had made it a month after their daughter was accepted into Stanford.

"Since the matters concerning Mr. Singer and his foundation have been widely reported, Mrs. Zhao has come to realize she has been misled, her generosity has been taken advantage of, and her daughter has fallen victim to the scam," it added.

Law firm Mayer Brown declined to give the full names of the parents or say whether Yusi Zhao is still at the prestigious Ivy League college.

A reporter from the New York Times who visited the family's home in an ultra-wealthy district on the outskirts of Beijing this week said a Ferrari, a Tesla, a Bentley and a Land Rover could be seen parked outside a California-style mansion.

American colleges are highly sought after among Chinese families and a booming industry has flourished offering consulting and test preparation advice. Chinese students have also become a hugely lucrative demographic for those colleges.

The seven-figure sum in spotlight

Most of the cases that have come to light through indictments or guilty pleas have involved parents paying between 15,000 and 600,000 U.S. dollars to ensure their children got into college.

However, though 33 parents have been charged with fraud and deceit in the college admissions process so far, none have been accused of spending sums that even approach what Zhao's family is said to have paid. The 6.5-million-U.S.-dollar figure stands out for its size.

The only others known to have paid Singer a seven-figure sum are the parents of Sherry Guo. The Chinese parents allegedly paid 1.2 million U.S. dollars to get their daughter into Yale, Guo's attorney has said. They have denied any wrongdoing through their attorney, and have not been charged.

According to Vox News, the father of Yusi Zhao, the founder of Shandong Buchang Pharmaceuticals, is one of the 200 richest people in China, and the 6.5 million U.S. dollars is only about 0.4 percent of his total net worth. 

"We work with many wealthy Chinese families who feel that sending a child to an elite Western university is a way of signaling status and prestige, yet 'another luxury brand purchase,'" said college admissions consultant Paul Lowe.

Chinese families put great value on the education of their children, especially billionaires who regard U.S. credentials like a Stanford diploma as an investment for their children to retain their standing in the upper crust.

According to Lowe, spending money on their children's education not only serves as a foreign investment, it can also be the first step to eventual emigration.

Who is eligible to receive preferential treatment?

It's a common perception in the U.S. that children of alumni, known as "legacies," children of faculty and of donors, all receive preferential treatment in college admissions. However, they're treated differently: legacy or even double legacy status does not put a student in the same category as children of faculty or children of top donors.

A legacy student gets extra points in the admissions process, while children of faculty are given a "golden halo" during the process, which includes a direct line to senior admissions officers, allowing parents the chance to lobby them to accept their children.

As for the children of donors, the rule is different, and not all donors are equal.

"The threshold to make a difference in admissions is very high given the incredible amount of money in this area," Marci Reichelstein, a former Stanford admissions official, told Palo Alto's Patch.

According to the outlet, although Stanford officials refused to give the specific numbers, at least two sources said the threshold for preferential treatment was 500,000 U.S. dollars.

(With input from agencies)