Actors and CEOs accused of bribing to swindle admissions to American universities

Lori Loughlin, actress of "Full House", appeared Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, accused of participating in a large scheme unveiled this week. Wealthy parents paid their children to make their way into the elite of American colleges such as Yale and Stanford.

US Magistrate Steve Kim ordered Loughlin to be released in federal custody on a $ 1 million bond at the end of a brief hearing, but she would have to limit her travel to the United States. Continental United States and in the vicinity of Vancouver, Canada.

Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer known for his brand "Mossimo", was released a day earlier on similar terms.

According to the Associated Press, the couple would have been paid $ 500,000 for their daughters to be qualified as crew recruits to the Southern California team,

Huffman, best known for her role in the television series "Desperate Housewives", also appeared in court in Los Angeles. According to court documents, she allegedly paid $ 15,000 disguised as charitable donations so that her daughter could participate in the fraudulent scams of college entrance exams, according to the Associated Press.

Judge Alexander MacKinnon, the investigating judge, ordered the release of Huffman for $ 250,000. a bail before his hearing in Boston on March 29 and limit his trip to the continental United States.

Huffman's husband, William H. Macy's husband, was not charged in this case, but US Attorney Adam Schleifer told the court that he was "about the subject." # 39; investigation. "

All defendants who appeared in the US court in Los Angeles risk being released on bail," said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the US prosecutor's office, in an email to Reuters.

Douglas Hodge, former executive director of investment firm Pimco and another of 33 parents charged with a $ 25 million fraud, also appeared in a Boston court on Wednesday. Prosecutors say that he has brought his children to school by simulating their athletic achievements. An investigating judge released him on bail of US $ 500,000 and rejected the objection of a federal prosecutor that Hodge retains his pbadport.

The other parents charged include Manuel Henriquez, general manager of the lender in specialized finance Hercules Capital Inc; Gordon Caplan, co-chair of the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Bill McGlashan Jr., head of the private equity arm of private equity firm TPG Capital.

In which agents are codenamed "Operation Varsity Blues", some 300 law enforcement officers swept the country to make arrests.

Prosecutors have so far named 33 parents, 13 coaches and badociates involved in the company "scam".

The alleged scammers of the scam and the parents who would have paid there could all be liable to a 20 – year prison term if they were found guilty.

Loughlin, Giannulli, Huffman and Hodge have not yet pleaded.

The largest college admissions scam

The largest fraudulent college admissions scheme ever discovered in the United States was designed in a small college preparation 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 to be admitted to 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 by fraud, an honest and truly talented student was rejected."

William "Rick" Singer, 58, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to project management through his Edge College & Career Network, which charged between 100,000 and 2 , $ 5 million per child.

"I was basically trying to buy or bribe the coaches for a place," Singer said, pleading guilty, among other things, to racketeering, money laundering and "robbery". obstruction of justice. . "And that happened very frequently."

No students were charged and the authorities stated that some of them were unaware of the scams.

Prosecutors have stated that it is incumbent on universities to do what to do with students admitted in fraud. ] Yale University and the University of Southern California (USC) reported cooperating with investigators.

"The Justice Department believes that Yale was a victim of a crime committed by his former female football coach," Yale said in a statement.

The coach, Rudolph Meredith, resigned in November after 24 years at the helm of the women's football team. Meredith, accused of accepting a $ 400,000 bribe from Singer, is expected to plead guilty, prosecutors said. His lawyer declined to comment.

John Vandemoer, former sailing coach of the Stanford University, who was working for Singer, pleaded guilty to racketeering plots on Tuesday.

Learning Disorders

Prosecutors said The program began in 2011 and also helped children to enter the University of Texas, Georgetown University, at the University of Michigan. University of Wake Forest and at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Part of the program was to advise parents to lie to test administrators when the child had learning difficulties that allowed him or her to spend more time on the exam.

Parents were then advised to choose one of two test centers that Singer had indicated they had control over: one in Houston, Texas, and the other in West Hollywood, California.

Test administrators at these centers are charged with tens of thousands of dollars of pbadive bribery to allow Singer's clients to cheat, often by making arrangements to correct the answers or asking another person to pbad the tests. ;examination. 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 submit photos of athletes uploaded to the Internet to exaggerate their sporting credentials.

Wake Forest said he placed the main volleyball coach Bill Ferguson on administrative leave after being among the coaches accused of accepting bribes.

According to the criminal complaint ors heard from TPG Capital's McGlashan, hearing Singer tell him to send pictures of his sportsman that he could manipulate digitally to create a false sports profile.

"The world works nowadays is amazing," McGlashan said. Singer, according to court documents.

(With contributions from AP)

(Top image: this combination of images made on March 12, 2019 shows American actress Felicity Huffman (left) attending the celebration of the nominees of Showtime Emmy Eve in Los Angeles, LA September 16, 2018 and actress Lori Loughlin arriving at the People's Choice Awards 2017 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2017. / VCG Photo) [19659047] [ad_2]
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