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Federal authorities on Tuesday arrested dozens of people as part of a $ 25 million aid program aimed at helping wealthy Americans, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, as well as some CEOs, to trick their kids into prestigious universities like Yale and Stanford.
The largest university admissions fraud discovered in US history was launched in Newport Beach, California, in a small university-based company that was relying on bribes wine for sports coaches, fictitious candidates and even tampered pictures representing non-athletic candidates as elite competitors Prosecutors said: "These parents are a catalog of wealth and privileges," said Andrew Lelling , the American lawyer in Boston, at a press conference. "For every student admitted for fraud, an honest and truly talented student was rejected."
William "Rick" Singer, 58, pleaded guilty to trumpet management charges on Tuesday through his Edge College & Career Network, charged $ 100,000 to nearly $ 2.5 million per child for services, which were masked as contributions to a fraudulent charity run by Singer.
"I was basically trying to buy or bribe the coaches for a place," Singer said. He pleaded guilty to racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. "And that happened very frequently."
The Hoover Tower stands above Stanford University on this aerial photo of Standford, California, United States, January 13, 2017. / Reuters Photo
The Tower Hoover stands above Stanford University Photo of Standford, California, United States, January 13, 2017. / Reuters Photo
John Vandemoor, former sailing coach of the University of Stanford who was working for Singer, also pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.
About 300 law enforcement officers were swept away. the country to make arrests in which agents with the code name "Operation Varsity Blues". Huffman and Loughlin were scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles later on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have so far named 33 parents, 13 coaches and collaborators of Singer's business.
The other accused parents include Manuel Henriquez, the managing director of the specialized financial lender Hercules Capital; Gordon Caplan, co-chair of the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Bill McGlashan Jr., who heads a private equity arm of private equity firm TPG Capital; and Douglas Hodge, former CEO of Pimco Investment Management Company
Company representatives, as well as Huffman and Loughlin, declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
The actress Lori Loughlin travels to the People's Choice Awards 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2017. / Reuters Photo
The actress Lori Loughlin arrives at the People's Choice Awards 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2017. / Reuters Photo [19659008] The alleged scam artists and the parents who paid for it could be sentenced to of 20 years imprisonment
Huffman, former nominee for best Oscar-nominated actress and married to actor William H. Macy, starring in the movie "Desperate" of ABC Housewives. "Loughlin, best known for her role in the TV series ABC "Full House" and the recent sequel to Netflix "Fuller House", is married to the founder of the clothing company Mossimo Giannulli, also indicted in this project.
"HELP THE WEALTHIEST" [19659002] During a telephone conversation with According to a wealthy relative, prosecutors said Singer summed it up as follows: "We are helping the wealthiest families in the United States to educate their children … my families want a guarantee."
Prosecutors said it was up to universities to decide what to do admitted students after cheating.
Yale University and the University of Southern California (USC) indicated in a separate statement that they were cooperating with the investigators.
"The Department of Justice believes that Yale has been a victim of a crime committed by his former female football coach," Yale said in a statement.
Members of the press wait in front of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the United States Courthouse in Los Angeles. people ha d audiences after being arrested on March 12, 2019, as part of an alleged US $ 25 million bribery scheme to take students to prestigious universities. / VCG Photo
Members of the press wait in front of the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the United States Courthouse in Los Angeles, where many people were heard after their arrest on March 12, 2019 , in connection with an alleged loss of 25 million US dollars nationwide. Corruption system to bring students to the elite universities. / VCG Photo
Coach Rudolph Meredith resigned in November after 24 years at the helm of the women's football team. Meredith, who has accepted a $ 400,000 bribe from Singer, is expected to plead guilty, prosecutors said. His lawyer declined to comment.
Prosecutors said the scheme had begun in 2011 and had also helped children to enter the University of Texas, Georgetown University, Wake Forest University and at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
the system was to advise parents to lie to test administrators that their children had learning disabilities that allowed them to spend more time on examination
They were then advised to choose one of two test centers on which the company Singer had claimed to have control: one in Houston, Texas, and the other in West Hollywood, California.
Test administrators at these centers were accepting bribes in the tens of thousands of dollars to allow Singer's clients to cheat, often by having erroneous answers corrected or by having the exam screened by someone else. other person. .
William "Rick" Singer Leaves Federal Courthouse After Being Charged in Fraud Scheme on College Admissions in Boston, United States, March 12 2019. / Reuters Photo
William "Rick" Singer leaves the courthouse after being accused of a national ploy to cheat admissions to universities in Boston, Mbadachusettes, United States, March 12, 2019 . / Reuters Photo
In many cases, the students were They were not aware that their parents had arranged to cheat, said prosecutors, although in other cases they participated knowingly.
Singer also helped parents present pictures of their kids playing sports or even photographing kids' faces on images of athletes uploaded to the internet to exaggerate their sports credentials.
After being among the coaches accused of accepting kickbacks, volleyball head coach Bill Ferguson was put on administrative leave.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators heard McGlashan of TPG Capital listening to Singer tell him to send him photos of his son he could manipulate numerically to create a false sports profile.
"The world works nowadays is incredible," McGlashan told Singer, according to court documents.
(Top Image: Actress Felicity Huffman, ABC star "Desperate Housewives" sings on stage at the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, USA. United, January 21st, 2018. / VCG Photo)
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