An ex-Pimco chief at the shelter after a $ 25 million scam on the entrance to an American college

BOSTON / LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Douglas Hodge, former chief executive of investment firm Pimco, appeared in federal court in Boston on Wednesday accused of having participated in a large-scale project in the United States. under which wealthy parents pay their children American elite colleges.

"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin, another of 33 parents accused of a $ 25 million scam, was scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday after being arrested earlier in the day.

Hodge spoke little during a brief court appearance, apart from acknowledging that he had understood the charges. An investigating judge released him on bail of $ 500,000 following objections from a federal prosecutor who said that Hodge's fortune made him a flight risk.

The two are among the 50 people accused of having participated in the biggest scam of American history, which has led students to elite universities, including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford, by deceiving the process of admission.

Manuel Henriquez, another company involved in this case, resigned as chairman and CEO of Hercules Capital, the company said Wednesday.

Gordon Caplan, who, according to prosecutors, had spent $ 75,000 last year to correct some of his daughter's misrepresentation in a college entrance exam, was laid off from her position as co-chair of the firm. International lawyers Willkie Farr & Gallagher, announced the firm Wednesday.

The brain of the ploy, William "Rick" Singer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of racketeering. Attorneys at the US Attorney's Office in Boston said his company, Edge College & Career Network, had earned $ 25 million since it embarked on fraud in 2011, offering what he had promised was a "guarantee" of admission.

Singer eventually cooperated with the investigators last year, helping them to secretly record the incriminating conversations he had had with their parents.

The system developed was to bribe the college entrance test administrators to allow a child to correct the wrong answers and corrupt academic sports coaches to prove that a child was a gifted athlete, even if it was something else. .

In some cases, but not all, Singer ensured that the child was unaware of cheating.

"They feel good about themselves," he said during a phone call to Caplan, according to the criminal complaint. "And they just do not know they did not even get the score they thought they had."

In some cases, Singer helped the doctor take pictures to make an athletic child appear.

Prosecutors said the parents had paid their payments to a fake charity run by Singer, which also allowed them to accept a fraudulent tax deduction. The fictional charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, was supposed to help provide education for "underprivileged students".

The number of children benefiting from this program was not clear and investigators said more parents and coaches could still be indicted. In telephone conversations intercepted by investigators, Singer boasts of having helped hundreds of students, while in others, he reassures parents that he has helped more 20 or 30 other students to cheat in recent years.

Loughlin is accused of paying the singer $ 500,000 to help her cheat her daughters at the University of Southern California (USC) by bribing a sports official at school to claim that girls were talented rowers. Her husband, designer Mossimo Gianulli, is also charged with fraud and appeared in court Tuesday in Los Angeles before being released on bail of $ 1 million.

One of the girls, Olivia Gianulli, has become an influential influencer on social media under the name "Olivia Jade".

"Officially student!", She added as a caption on a picture that she posted in September on Instagram and showed it in her dorm USC, decorated with items ordered from the online retailer Amazon. com, who paid for it.

Other prominent parents indicted by the Boston US Attorney's Office include Felicity Huffman, the actor who starred in "Desperate Housewives"; and Bill McGlashan Jr., who ran the private equity arm of private equity firm TPG Capital, which put him on indefinite leave after being indicted.

Representatives of the accused parents declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries. Many of the coaches accused of accepting bribes were fired, put on leave or resigned.

(This story has been redefined to correct the day of the week in the first and second paragraphs)