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A year ago, Hollywood couple Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy donated $ 15,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation. An accountant from the charity responded that the money would "provide educational programs and personal enrichment to disadvantaged youth".
Prosecutors said on Tuesday that the foundation was little more than a gateway for a broad program of SAT fixation and college admissions. And the youth helped by the payment was far from being disadvantaged: she was the eldest daughter of the couple.
The unsealed charges of the Justice Department on Tuesday accused admissions counselors, coaches and school officials of offering wealthy families one of the two back doors of colleges of their choice.
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One method was to bribe university leaders to be seen as sports recruits even if they did not; the other used deception for standardized exams. And in both cases, Hollywood stars play a role.
Ms. Huffman's career in Hollywood dates back to the 1970s. Her performance as Bree, the main transgender character of "Transamerica" earned him an Oscar nomination in 2006. But much of his work was done on television. She is best known for her roles, notably Lynette Scavo in "Desperate Housewives" and Dana Whitaker in the Aaron Sorkin "Sports Night" show, as well as for several roles in the "American Crime" show. From the ABC channel. Recently, Ms. Huffman, 56, played special agent Clara Dillard in Epix "Get Shorty".
In 1997, she married Mr. Macy. The same year, he was nominated for Oscar, after playing in "Fargo". Mr. Macy, a 68-year-old veteran of many films, currently plays Frank Gallagher, head of the dysfunctional family of Showtime comedy series "Shameless". They have two daughters: the eldest was born in 2000 and the youngest two years later.
According to authorities, William Singer, head of a college preparatory company and founder of the association, met with Ms. Huffman and Mr. Macy in their home in Los Angeles and explained to them how he could help them. Mr. Singer, who pleaded guilty and cooperates with the investigators – he is identified as the "cooperating witness" 1 in the indictments – stated that he could arrange for the supervisor of the SAT to girl secretly corrects her wrong answers and increases her score. "CW-1 informed the investigators that Huffman and his wife had accepted the plan," says the indictment.
Following Mr. Singer's instructions, Ms. Huffman asked her daughter to seek permission to work overtime at SAT, an option available to students with learning disabilities or other needs. After the girl received permission, Mr. Singer asked Ms. Huffman to test her daughter in December 2017 with a supervisor who participated in the scheme. (He cooperates with Witness No. 2.)
At first, when it appeared that another supervisor would be involved in her daughter's high school, Ms. Huffman sent an email to Mr. Singer: "Ruh Ro!". They quickly put the plan back on track using another test site where, according to the indictment, the crooked overseer would be present.
Less than two months ago, Parade published an interview with Mr. Macy in which he talked about the search of his eldest daughter's college. "We are currently at the heart of the college application period, which is so stressful," he said. "I think that once she's been accepted, she may take a sabbatical year."
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Prosecutors believe that cheating helped her daughter's case, no matter how complex the process.
"In the end, Huffman's daughter earned a score of 1,420 on the SAT, an improvement of about 400 points over his PSAT, taken without CW-2 a year earlier," says Charge, referring to the preliminary SAT.
It was unclear whether their daughter had been admitted to a college or whether she even knew, before Tuesday, whether she had cheated.
The indictment also includes excerpts from a conversation in which Mr. Macy, Ms. Huffman and Mr. Singer discussed the rehearsal of the process for the youngest daughter, but only after she took the SAT only to see if she would succeed. Mr. Singer explained that if they implemented this plan, the second score could only increase significantly, otherwise they would raise suspicions.
In the end, Mrs. Huffman and Mr. Macy decided not to pursue the plan for their youngest daughter, says the indictment.
Ms. Huffman has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and fair-service fraud. But Mr Macy, who is named in the indictment as his wife, but not by name, has not been charged. Neither the indictment nor the prosecutors' statements explained why, although it is possible that the prosecutors felt that they did not have enough evidence to prove it. # 39; s charge. In the e-mails and recorded telephone conversations cited in the indictment, Mr. Macy participates directly in the conversations about the aborted plan, not the one that was completed and resulted in the payment of $ 15,000.
A representative of the couple did not respond to a request for comment. Ms. Huffman was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, according to the US Attorney's Office in Boston, which is spearheading the prosecution. A judge has set bail at $ 250,000, the Associated Press reported.
Among Huffman's most recent projects is "When They See Us," a Netflix series on wrongful convictions in the Central Park case, in which she plays Linda Fairstein, one of the prosecutors. Netflix declined to comment.
Another accused actress, Lori Loughlin, was making arrangements to surrender. Mrs. Loughlin, 54, is best known for her role as Aunt Becky in the 1990 sitcom "Full House", a role she recently picked up in a "Fuller House" reboot broadcast on Netflix.
Her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was also charged. Mr. Giannulli founded the Mossimo fashion brand in 1986. The company sells clothing and accessories worldwide, including Australia, Mexico, Japan and India. The partnership with Target has ended in 2017.
Their daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, a Budding influencer of social media, with nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers and 1.3 million followers on Instagram, posted two paid advertisements on Instagram that highlighted her student identity shortly after her admission to the company. University of Southern California. According to the indictments, she had a lot of help to enter.
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Her parents are accused of paying $ 500,000 for Olivia and her sister to be classified as crewmembers for the United States. despite never having participated in this sport, according to the prosecutors. The indictment states that $ 100,000 was paid in two jars of $ 50,000 to Donna Heinel, Senior Assistant Director of Sports in the United States, who then identified the girls as potential members of the team. . Heinel has also been charged.
The couple sent the remaining $ 400,000 to the foundation – a $ 200,000 payment after each girl received her American check. letter of admission.
A representative of Ms. Loughlin declined to comment.
It was unclear whether any of the girls knew of any scheme to help them or, if so, anything from the United States. would do with them now.
In a reportThe school said, "We are aware of the vast ongoing criminal investigation involving universities across the country, including the United States. U.S.C. has not been accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate fully with the government investigation. "
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