DOZENS Charged In High-Profile Scam Called “Largest Cheating Scam Ever Prosecuted”

From ABC7:

Federal prosecutors in Boston on Tuesday charged 50 people, including the actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, in the largest college admissions cheating scam ever prosecuted in the United States.

Authorities say the operation, dubbed Varsity Blues, uncovered 33 parents described by US Attorney Andrew Lelling as a "catalog of wealth and privilege" who collectively paid $25 million to a college admissions counselor named William Singer, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in an investigation into what Lelling called the "widening corruption of elite college admissions."

In exchange for the money, Singer allegedly bribed college officials, coaches and college entrance exam administrators, who then helped students secure admissions "not on their merits but through fraud," Lelling said.

Officials say 13 people were arrested by the FBI in Los Angeles and that 38 of the 50 defendants charged are under arrest and in custody. Seven are working towards surrender, while one in Hawaii is actively being pursued. Huffman was arrested at her home, while Loughlin is in Canada and is not yet in custody. Authorities have been in contact with her, and she is reportedly aware there is a warrant for her arrest upon her return to the U.S.

In some cases, authorities say Singer arranged for a student to take the SAT individually with a proctor he had bribed in Texas or California. In other cases, Singer allegedly bribed coaches to establish fake credentials designating students as recruited athletes even when those students did not play the sport in question.

In one instance highlighted by federal prosecutors, it is alleged that the head women's soccer coach at Yale was paid $400,000 to accept a student even though the applicant did not play soccer. The parents of that student had allegedly paid Singer $1.2 million.

The coaches worked at such schools as Stanford, Georgetown, Wake Forest, the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. The former Yale coach pleaded guilty and helped build the case against others.

"Today's arrest should be a warning to others," the FBI's Joseph Bonavolonta said. "You can't pay to play. You can't cheat to get ahead, because you will get caught."

The nationwide scheme was prosecuted in Boston in part because it was uncovered by FBI agents there working an unrelated case. They say fake test scores were submitted to Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern University.

Prosecutors said it was not an accident that there are no students charged, though they did not rule it out. But they have been told that in most cases, the students did not know what their parents had done to get them into the college of their choice.

According to court documents, Huffman and her husband -- actor William H. Macy -- "made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000...to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. Huffman later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so."

Federal agents say they have recorded telephone calls with Huffman and a cooperating witness. Macy is not charged or named in court documents.

The documents say that Loughlin and her husband "agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team -- despite the fact that they did not participate in crew -- thereby facilitating their admission to USC."

Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, is also among those under arrest.

Officials say they have emails from Loughlin.

The suspects were mostly charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

And from CNN:

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among dozens of parents, elite college coaches and college prep executives accused of carrying out a national conspiracy to get students into prestigious colleges, according to a massive federal indictment.

Federal prosecutors said the scheme had two major pieces. In the first part, parents allegedly paid a college prep organization to take the test on behalf of students or correct their answers. Secondly, the organization allegedly bribed college coaches to help admit the students into college as recruited athletes, regardless of their actual ability, prosecutors said.

The documents also allege that some defendants created fake athletic profiles for students to make them appear to be successful athletes.

In all, 50 people were charged in the criminal investigation that went by the name "Operation Varsity Blues." Those arrested include two SAT/ACT administrators, one exam proctor, nine coaches at elite schools, one college administrator and 33 parents, according to Andrew Lelling, the US attorney for Massachusetts.

"This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud," Lelling said. "There can be no separate college admission system for the wealthy, and I'll add that there will not be a separate criminal justice system either."

He added, "For every student admitted through fraud, an honest genuinely talented student was rejected."

Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, the University of Southern California, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated in the case. The indictment accuses defendants of committing crimes between 2011 and 2019.

Founder of 'The Key' accused of being paid $25 million

Huffman, an Academy Award nominee, has been charged with felony conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, according to court paperwork filed Monday in federal court in Massachusetts. A law enforcement source confirms to CNN that the actress has been arrested in Los Angeles.

Loughlin, star of "Full House" and "Fuller House," also is facing the same felony charge -- conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

CNN is working to get comment from the actresses' representatives.

Huffman, best known for her role on TV's "Desperate Housewives," is accused of paying $15,000 to an organization that then facilitated cheating for her daughter on the SATs, the indictment said. Huffman also discussed the scheme in a recorded phone call with a cooperating witness, the indictment said.

Much of the indictment revolves around William Rick Singer, the founder of a for-profit college counseling and preparation business known as "The Key."