FBI charges rich parents including TV stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin with using bribery and fraud to get children into top US colleges
- More than 30 wealthy people bribed and cheated to get their children into universities including Georgetown, Yale, Stanford, USC and UCLA
- TV star Lori Loughlin allegedly paid US$500,000 in bribes to get her daughters into USC
Nearly 50 people, including actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were charged in what federal authorities say was a US$25 million scam to help wealthy Americans get their children into elite universities like Yale and Stanford.
The most sweeping college admissions fraud scheme ever unearthed in the United States was masterminded at a small college-preparation company based in Newport Beach, California, prosecutors said.
It relied on bribes to coaches, phoney test takers and even doctored photos misrepresenting non-athletic applicants as elite competitors to gain admissions for the offspring of rich parents.
“These parents are a catalogue of wealth and privilege,” Andrew Lelling, the US attorney in Boston, said at a news conference.
“For every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected.”
William “Rick” Singer, 58, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges related to running the scheme through his Edge College & Career Network, which charged from US$100,000 to as much as US$2.5 million per child for the services, which were masked as contributions to a scam charity Singer runs.
“I was essentially buying or bribing the coaches for a spot,” Singer said as he pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice.