Advertisement Actresses, prominent business owners charged in nationwide college admissions cheating scandal Alleged organizer of conspiracy pleaded guilty Tuesday Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Hollywood stars are among dozens of people charged Tuesday in a nationwide college admissions cheating and athletic recruitment scheme, federal officials announced.U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said 50 people have been charged in the alleged scheme, including 33 parents who "paid enormous sums" to guarantee their children’s admission into elite schools.Prominent entertainers, business owners and college coaches are implicated in the scandal that involves boosting SAT scores and bribing college administrators, according to the criminal complaint.Racketeering conspiracy charges were brought against coaches at schools including Wake Forest, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. A former Yale soccer coach pleaded guilty and helped build the case against others.Prosecutors said parents paid admissions consultant William Singer, of Newport Beach, California, $25 million from 2011 through February 2019 to bribe coaches and administrators to label their children as recruited athletes to boost their chances of getting into schools. Singer was charged with racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and obstruction of justice. In federal court Tuesday, Singer pleaded guilty to the charges and was released on $500,000 bond. He faces up to 65 years in prison and up to $1.25 million in fines when he is sentenced in June. Lelling said parents also paid the consultant to have other people take college admission exams for their children or correct incorrect answers on tests before they were submitted. Parents spent anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million to guarantee their children's admission, officials said.Actresses Felicity Huffman, who appeared in "Desperate Housewives," and Lori Loughlin, who started on "Full House," are among those named in the complaint. They face charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.The complaint alleges Huffman "made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 to KWF to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her oldest daughter." Huffman is accused of paying someone who "controlled" an SAT testing center to proctor her daughter's exam in Los Angeles and secretly correct her incorrect answers.A witness met with Huffman and her husband, William H. Macy, at their Los Angeles home and explained the alleged scam to them, officials said. The cooperator told investigators that Huffman and her spouse "agreed to the plan.""Ultimately, Huffman's daughter received a score of 1420 in the SAT, an improvement of approximately 400 points over her PSAT," the complaint reads. The judge ruled on a $250,000 bond for Huffman, with no deeding of property required on the condition of Macy signing an affidavit.Huffman is scheduled to appear at Moakley Federal Court in Boston March 29. Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, 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," according to the complaint.Giannulli and the government agreed on a $1 million bond, which must be secured by March 29. His and Loughlin's primary residence is being used to secure the bond. Mossimo is scheduled to appear at Moakley Federal Court March 29. A warrant for Loughlin's arrest will be issued upon her return to the United States from Vancouver.Others implicated include owners of a media company, the owner of vineyard, the owner of a private equity firm, the owner of a real estate development firm and a physician. John Wilson, of Lynnfield, who owns a private equity and real estate development firm, is suspected of bribing the USC water polo coach to designate his son as a recruit to the USC men's water polo team."Wilson also sought to use bribes to obtain the admission of his two daughters to Stanford University and Harvard University as recruited athletes," the complaint reads.An informant, working at the direction of federal agents, told Wilson that he had secured a spot at Harvard University, the document said. The witness was told to to tell Wilson that a fictitious administrator would designate one of his daughters as an athletic recruit in exchange for $500,000. There was, however, no actual contact with the university. Lelling said the investigation is continuing and authorities believe other parents were involved. The schools themselves are not targets of the investigation, he said. "The federal government has alleged that USC is a victim in a scheme perpetrated against the university by a long-time athletics department employee, one current coach and three former coaching staff, who were allegedly involved in a college admissions scheme and have been charged by the government on multiple charges,” USC Interim President Wanda Austin said in a statement. “It is immensely disappointing that individuals would abuse their position at the university in this way.”No students were charged. Authorities said in many cases, the students were not aware of the fraud.