Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin Indicted in College Admissions Bribery Case

College Admissions BriberyUPDATED 2019/03/12 4:00PM

Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman and Full House actress Lori Loughlin have been charged along with 48 others in a bribery scam that involves some of the most elite colleges in the United States. The charges against the actresses include conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Huffman has been arrested and is in custody, but will be released on a signature bond.

According to court records, the actresses and others allegedly bribed people to get their children into various schools. Some of the bribes were to the tune of $6 million. The schools involved in the case include Stanford, UCLA, Stanford, Georgetown, and others.

The alleged scam was unearthed after authorities found a California businessman who ran an operation that helped students get into the schools of their choice. Parents would pay the man money that he would then pass along to an SAT or ACT administrator or college athletic coach. In some cases, the money would go to a coach, the coach would treat the students as a recruit (even if they did not play the sport at all), and list the student as an athlete. Money that went to exam administrators resulted in a hired proctor to take or correct the student’s SAT or ACT answers.

Loughlin and her husband, found of Mossimo clothing Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 for both of their daughters to be designated as recruits for the crew team at USC. The girls allegedly do not row, but their father reportedly sent photos of them on rowing machines.

Huffman and her husband, William H. Macy, allegedly made a charitable contribution of $15,000 and in return their daughter was given twice the amount of time to take the SAT and other students (and a paid proctor) secretly corrected her answers afterward.

There is not only financial evidence, but e-mails and phone records between the parties involved corroborating the scam.

According to reports, most of the children involved had no idea that their parents were involved.