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Boston: Nearly 50 people, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, were charged on Tuesday with a $ 25 million scam to help wealthy Americans bring their children to such prestigious universities. than Yale and Stanford. 19659002] The largest college admissions fraud scheme ever discovered in the United States was designed in a small college-ready business based in Newport Beach, California, prosecutors said. He relied on bribes for coaches, fictitious candidates and even falsified photos that portrayed non-athletic candidates as elite competitors for being accepted for the offspring of wealthy parents.
"These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege," Andrew Lelling, the US attorney in Boston, said 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 $ 2.5 million per child for masked services as contributions to a fraudulent charity run by Singer.
"I was basically trying to buy or bribe the coaches for a place," Singer pleaded guilty. charges of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. "And that happened very frequently."
Dressed in a black blazer, wearing glbades, her hair in a ponytail, Huffman, best known for her role in the television series "Desperate Housewives", was one of 20 accused appeared in a Los court of law Angeles.
Many were slumped on chairs and a woman tried to hide her face. The husband of actor William H. Macy of Huffman, known for his roles in such films as "Fargo" and the hit television series "Shameless," sat in the front row of the court clad in the air. a gray coat.
Judge Alexander MacKinnon, Magistrate, ordered the release of Huffman on bail of $ 250,000 before the March 29th hearing in Boston.
Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office, was to be released on bail,
Macy was not charged, but US Deputy Attorney, Adam Schleifer, said at the court that he was a "subject of investigation".
Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a renowned fashion designer The "Mossimo" brand was sitting in front of the court wearing a hoodie and short hair. He was released on bail of one million dollars. Charges were also brought against Loughlin, best known for his role in ABC's "Full House" television series and Netflix's recent "Fuller House" sequel.
Huffman, Giannulli, and Loughlin have not yet pleaded.
Last University Scandal
This case is the latest in a series of scandals that have shaken the world of admissions to large colleges grappling with big problems. Boston prosecutors in recent years have also accused Chinese nationals of cheating on entry exams, while the College Board, which administers SAT tests, was shaken in 2016 by a security breach. exposing hundreds of questions to be tested.
Students walk on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut on November 12, 2015.REUTERS / Shannon Stapleton / File Photo
Some 300 officers from the The police force swept the country to make arrests in agents known as Operation Varsity Blues. "
To date, prosecutors have appointed 33 parents, 13 coaches and employees of the company Singer.
The other accused parents include Manuel Henriquez, Chief Executive Officer of Hercules Capital Inc, a lender specialized in financial services; 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 investment management firm Pimco.
Company representatives, as well as Huffman and Loughlin, declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comments.
Prosecutors told prosecutors, "What we are doing is helping the wealthiest families in the United States get the payment of a death sentence."
No students were charged and the authorities stated that some of them were unaware of the scams.
Prosecutors said that it was up to universities to decide what to do with admitted students after cheating.
Yale University and the University of Southern California (USC) said they cooperate with investigators.
"The Justice Department believes that Yale has been a victim of a crime committed by his former women's football coach," Yale said in a statement.
Coach Rudolph Meredith resigned in November after 24 years as head of the women's football team. Meredith, accused of accepting a $ 400,000 bribe from Singer, should plead guilty, prosecutors said. His lawyer declined to comment.
John Vandemoer, former sailing coach of Stanford University who was working with Singer, pleaded guilty to racketeering plot Tuesday.
Learning Disorders
Prosecutors said the scheme had begun. in 2011 and also helped children enter the University of Texas, Georgetown University, Wake Forest University and the University of California at Los Angeles ( UCLA)
. learning difficulties allowing them to spend more time on the exam.
The parents were then asked to choose one of the two examination centers that the Singer Society claimed to control: one in Houston, Texas, and the other at West Hollywood California.
Test administrators at these centers are accused of accepting bribes of tens of thousands of dollars to allow Singer's clients to cheat, often with false answers or having another person go through l & # 39; exam. Singer agreed in advance with the parents of the score they wanted to get from the child.
In many cases, students were not aware of the fact that their parents had made arrangements to cheat, said the prosecutor, although others deliberately participated.
Singer also helped parents present photos of their kids playing sports or even Photoshopped kids' faces on images of athletes uploaded to the internet to exaggerate their sports credentials.
Wake Forest stated that it had been so. After being among coaches accused of accepting bribes, 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 we live in is amazing," McGlashan told Singer, according to court documents.
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