Actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin Involved in One of the Largest College Scams in America

One of the biggest college admission scandals has rocked America involving famous celebrities and the elite circle. It has come to light that rich parents are using the power of money to get their children admissions into prestigious colleges in America. ‘Desperate Housewives’ star Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin from ‘Full House’ were among the families who were involved in the scandal. According to court documents unsealed in Boston, wealthy families have paid as far as to $6.5 million to place their children in these reputed colleges. Authorities have been investigating this case for over a year under an operation named ‘Operation Varsity Blues.

The prime person who is operating this cheating racket is William Rick Singer of California. William Singer runs a charity called ‘Key Worldwide Foundation’ however this charity organization is just a cover-up to run the admission scam. It has received $25 million in total in the form of bribes to get students admitted into universities such as Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, University of Southern California, UCLA and the University of Texas.

Prosecutors said that Singer described his business by saying, “What we do is help the wealthiest families in the U.S. get their kids into school. ... My families want a guarantee.” Singer would use various methods to get his client’s children admitted. He would get someone else instead of the concerned child to give tests such as SAT or ACT to obtain impressive scores but not too high. He would get Mark Riddell of Florida with whom he’s been working since 2011, to give the exam instead of the children. He would also "replace the students' exam responses with his own." Singer would also pay therapists to give notes to parents saying that these parents’ children need extra time to write the exams.

It appears that these universities are not involved in the cheating scam however some of the coaches employed there are operating without the university’s knowledge. These coaches are heavily bribed by Singer. Academy Award nominee Felicity Huffman and her husband actor William H Macy are guilty of misusing the ACT and SAT examinations. They paid $15,000 to help their daughter clear the exam. Huffman decided to choose the same road for her second daughter but later backed out. She was arrested from her home and appeared in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday. The court has set a bond of $250,000 for her.

Similarly, actress Lori Loughlin, well known as ‘Aunty Becky’ in ‘Full House’ and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli paid a bribe of $500,000 to get their two daughters admitted into the USC crew team. Lori Loughlin was not present when the arrests took place as she was heading to Los Angeles where she’s expected to surrender. Her husband Giannulli was arrested and appeared in court on Tuesday. The magistrate has set a bond of $1 million for him. Both Giannulli and Huffman have surrendered their passports.

Many of the students who got admissions due to bribes are still active students in the universities. All the universities have released statements stating that they will conduct internal reviews and will co-operate with the investigations. Colleges like Yale, University of Texas and USC have stated that they’ve been “victims” in this bribery scam. The College Board has released a statement stating that it would work closely with law enforcement to hold the guilty accountable. It was the only way to do justice to those students “who are honest and play by the rules.”