Not a valid example. If the Walmart employee bought the TV, he could sell it you. The issue is him not owning it. The college “owns” all the enrollments in either one of these cases.
The proper analogy for this situation is comparing the difference between bribing a judge to find you not guilty vs. setting up a press conference with the governor to announce that you’re donating 100 million to the state treasury, after which he gives you a pardon. Justice is not served in that criminal case and neither was it served in the college admissions process here.
[The college “owns” all the enrollments in either one of these cases.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honest_services_fraud