A massive bribery scam involving some of the most elite colleges in the country has recently been uncovered, in an indictment that's found actresses, Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, charged with 48 others for their roles in the alleged scandal.
The charges include conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, while the scam reportedly involved money sent to a California businessman who promised to get applicants into the colleges of their choice. That man has since been revealed to be William Rick Singer, the ringleader of the scam who created a fake non-profit, charitable foundation that served as a front to launder payments from the parents.
The method used by Singer was to funnel the money to athletic coaches and SAT/ACT administrators, who would create fabricated profiles for the students in question while correcting their answers on standardized tests and exams. Singer would then instruct the parents to write off the alleged bribes as tax-deductible "donations" to his non-profit.
The feds have revealed that most parents paid between $200k and $400k for Singer's help, though some payments apparently went for as high as $6.5 million. Altogether, it's been reported that investigators uncovered about $25 million in bribes.
Meanwhile, Loughlin, along with her husband Mossimo Giannulli (the founder of Mossimo clothing), allegedly paid $500,000 to have their 2 daughters designated as recruits for the USC crew team, despite the fact that they did not actually participate in crew. To make their new profiles more believable, however, the feds say Mossimo sent action photos of their daughters on rowing machines.
Additionally, Huffman, and her husband, actor William H. Macy, have been accused of making a "charitable contribution" of $15,000 to participate in a cheating scheme on behalf of their eldest daughter, paying for her to be given twice the amount of time to take the SATs compared to other students. If that wasn't enough, the paid proctor agreed to secretly correct her answers afterward, which led to a score that was 400 points over her PSAT.
Furthermore, the feds say they have recorded phone calls from Loughlin and Huffman talking about the alleged scheme with a witness who was cooperating with investigators.
As for the charges, while they range from conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud for the actresses, Singer has reportedly already pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.
Source: TMZ
