Billionaire Who Paid Off $34M Of Atlanta Students' College Debt Just Admitted Tax Fraud

Robert Smith, the Billionaire who went viral for promising to pay off the student debt of an entire college class, just admitted to tax fraud. 

Smith took the stage at Atlanta's Morehouse College commencement ceremony in 2019 and vowed to create a grant to eliminate the graduating class' student loans. 

Sounds eerily similar to a certain episode of "The Office" in which Michael Scott promises a class of grade-schoolers — who he dubbed "Scott's Tots" — that he would pay their college tuition. 

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$139 million The amount Smith will pay in back taxes & penalties

Luckily, Smith did follow through on his promise, donating $34 million to the class of 2019, but according to new reports, there was an illegal scheme going on behind the scenes. 

The Justice Department announced that Smith admitted to concealing money and evading taxes using offshore trusts and bank accounts for 15 years. 

Smith entered into a non-prosecution agreement requiring him to pay $139 million in back taxes and penalties and he must abandon $182 million in charitable contribution deductions from 2018 and 2019 — part of which came from his Morehouse donations.

U.S. Attorney David Anderson commented, "It is never too late to tell the truth. Smith committed serious crimes, but he also agreed to cooperate."

Smith has avoided indictment by admitting his involvement in the scheme and agreeing to cooperate with an ongoing investigation.