Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among 13 parents scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston Wednesday for the first time since they were charged last month in a massive college admissions cheating scandal.
Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, is also charged with participating in the bribery scheme and is due to appear in US District Court in the Seaport with her.
They were among 50 people — including coaches, powerful financiers and entrepreneurs -- charged in a brazen plot in which wealthy parents allegedly schemed to bribe sports coaches at top colleges to admit their children. Many of the parents allegedly paid to have someone else take the SAT or ACT exams for their children or correct their answers, guaranteeing them high scores.
Huffman and Loughlin both appeared briefly in federal court in Los Angeles last month. Huffman was released on $250,000 bail and Loughlin was released on a $1 million bond. They were ordered to appear in Boston, where prosecutors filed the criminal case.
Huffman is best known for her roles in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and the film “Transamerica,” while Loughlin is known for her roles in the TV shows “Full House,” “Fuller House” and “Beverly Hills 90210.”
The admitted ringleader of the admissions scheme, William “Rick” Singer, began cooperating with federal authorities in September. He pleaded guilty recently to charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He ran a for-profit college counseling service called the Edge College & Career Network LLC, also known as The Key, and also used a charity he created, Key Worldwide Foundation, as a front to accept bribes from parents.
Singer outlined the schemes for authorities and secretly recorded calls with parents who allegedly paid him thousands of dollars to gain their children admission to elite colleges.
Huffman, Loughlin and Giannulli are among 32 parents charged in a complaint with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. However, the amount of bribes the parents are accused of paying varies significantly, from $15,000 to $1.2 million.
Huffman and her husband, actor William Macy, who is not charged, made a $15,000 payment to Singer’s charity, according to court filings. Singer allegedly arranged for an accomplice to proctor their daughter’s SAT exam in December 2017 and correct her answers afterward, scoring 1420 - a 400 point increase over her prior PSAT score.
Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of agreeing to pay bribes totaling $500,000 to help their two daughters win admission to USC by getting them designated as recruits to the school’s crew team, even though neither of them participated in crew.
Athletic recruits had a better chance of getting accepted than applicants with similar grades and test scores who weren’t recruits, according to prosecutors.
After Giannulli and Loughlin’s older daughter was accepted to USC in 2017, Giannulli wired $200,000 to Singer’s charity, according to court filings.
On the same day, according to court filings, Giannulli copied Loughlin on an e-mail he wrote to Singer, thanking him for his “great work” with their daughter and noting “both Lori and I are very appreciative of your efforts and end result!”
Another parent who is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday is John B. Wilson, a 59-year-old investor with homes in Hyannis Port and Lynnfield. He’s accused of paying Singer $220,000 to get his son into USC in 2014 and $1 million last year to try to secure spots for his daughters at Stanford and Harvard.
Other parents who are charged in the case and due in court Wednesday include: Jane Buckingham, the founder of a youth marketing consultancy and author of advice books; Gordon Caplan, co-chairman of an international law firm based in New York,; Manuel Henriquez, founder and chairman of specialty finance firm Hercules Capital, based in Palo Alto, Calif., and his wife, Elizabeth Henriquez; Bruce Isackson, president of a California real estate investment firm; Toby MacFarlane, former senior executive of a title insurance company; Peter Jan “P.J.” Sartorio, a packaged food entrepreneur; Devin Sloane, founder and CEO of a provider of drinking and wastwater systems; and Homayoun Zadeh. an associate professor of dentistry.
John Ellement of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Shelley Murphy can be reached at Shelley.Murphy@globe.comhttps://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/04/03/felicity-huffman-and-lori-loughlin-due-boston-court-college-cheating-scandal/4MLzJDNPIFmpYCLwQNkfEP/story.html
2019-04-03 10:55:00Z
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