Hollywood Celebs, Elite US Colleges Named in Admissions Fraud

Almost 50 people have been charged by United States federal prosecutors for taking part in a US$25-million college admissions scheme run by a small college-prep company in Newport Beach, California.

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The scheme, which was run by Willian "Rick" Singer through his Edge College & Career Network, helped the wealthy to guarantee their children's admission into elite universities, including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, University of Southern California (USC) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

Among those indicted are Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman, and Lori Loughlin and husband fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli; the couple has been charged with fraud and conspiracy. 

Famous actor and husband to Huffman, William H. Macy, has not been indicted. Authorities have not yet disclosed a reason for Macy's exclusion from the filings, despite both Huffman and Macy being accused of paying US$15,000 to facilitate their daughter cheating on a college entrance exam. 

Thirty-three parents have been indicted, which includes CEOs, and securities and real estate moguls. Sums ranging from US$200,000 to US$6.5 million were reportedly paid to ensure offspring of the accused would be accepted into prestigious universities across the United States.

A Massachusetts attorney pointed out that, “these parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege. All of them knowingly conspired with Singer and others to… buy their children’s admission to elite schools through fraud.” 

Along with the parents, prosecutors also charged 13 college sports coaches and associates of Singer's business scheme. 

The main strategies used by Singer and his cronies were to arrange for cheating on college entrance exams, such as the SAT and ACT, and facilitating admission by bribing coaches to list students as athletic recruits. 

Parents were told to arrange for the entrance test to be taken at one of two testing centers allegedly controlled by Singer's company. Either someone would take the exam in place of the student, give them answers or change answers after the student submitted it. 

In the athletics-related cases, fake image profiles were created with Photoshopped images of the students engaging in sports that they may have never played. The former coach for Yale's women's soccer team, who held the position for 24 years, pleaded guilty to accepting US$400,000 in bribes from applicants' parents. The former sailing coach at USC, John Vandemoer, and former water polo coach at Stanford, Jovan Vavic, also pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy. Other schools with indicted coaches are Georgetown University, Wake Forest University and UCLA. 

Singer also pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering, money laundering and obstruction of justice. A legal representative of Singer told reporters that the accused is "remorseful and contrite and wants to move on with his life," and that he is "relieved that this part is over."

Universities are now tasked with the decision of whether or not to keep the fraudulently admitted students enrolled. Authorities say, in some cases, the teenagers were not complicit in their parents' actions. Lillet pointed out that, “for every student admitted through fraud, an honest, genuinely talented student was rejected.”

The "Operation Varsity Blues" investigation, which took about a year to complete, was conducted by 200 FBI agents. If convicted, the masterminds and parents who took part in the scheme could each face up to 20 years in prison.