Hollywood actresses appear in court in a corruption case involving admissions to US universities



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Huffman and Loughlin, who remained silent since being charged in March, arrived separately and said nothing to reporters outside the courthouse.

Huffman, best known for her role in the series "Desperate Housewives," arrived without her husband, the equally famous actor, William H. Macy.

Loughlin, known for his role in "Full House", smiled and greeted his fans before entering the building.

The actresses were the most famous of the 50 people indicted in a scam to help American elite children to enter the best American universities.

The scam leader, William "Rick" Singer, who allegedly received about $ 25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators, pleaded guilty and cooperates with the authorities.

Yale, Stanford, UCLA and Georgetown are among the universities targeted by this sophisticated scam. None of the schools or students were charged.

According to prosecutors, the accused parents have paid up to $ 6 million to the Singer company to cheat on college entrance exams for their kids or to bribe coaches in order to Help non-sports students to get scholarships.

The 33 parents involved were charged with conspiracy to commit a postal fraud, a crime punishable by five years in prison.

Huffman was accused of paying $ 15,000 to help her eldest daughter get better results at the SAT college entrance examination.

According to the indictment, she and Macy paid an examiner to correct their daughter's test responses with a bogus donation to the Singer Foundation. They would have agreed in 2018 to repeat the scam of their younger daughter, although that did not happen.

Loughlin and her husband are accused of having donated $ 500,000 in 2016 and 2017 to the Singer Foundation, so that their two daughters can be rowed and join the crew of the team. 39, University of Southern California (USC).

Through Singer's cooperation, investigators record phone conversations and exchange emails with actresses about cheating.

No parent has yet pleaded guilty in this case.

There is much speculation about the ongoing negotiations between the lawyers representing the accused and the Mbadachusetts Attorney General, which could lead to plea agreements.

Such agreements are common in the US legal system: when investigators have evidence that they deem sufficient to convince a jury to obtain a conviction, defendants are encouraged to at least partially recognize their guilt promise of a sentence more lenient.

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