On Tuesday, federal court records unsealed in Boston named 50 people, includingFelicity HuffmanandFuller HouseactressLori Loughlin, who were allegedly part of anadmissions cheating scaminvolving elite colleges and universities. The scandal involves admissions to schools like Yale, Georgetown and Stanford, among others, PEOPLE confirmed on Tuesday.
Several individuals, including Huffman, weretaken into custodyon Tuesday.
Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.Jim Smeal/BEI/REX/Shutterstock; Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock
The Allegations
Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators, the release says.
Some individuals named in the court documents allegedly paid bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into these elite colleges, according to federal prosecutors.
The Case Against Felicity Huffman
Huffmanhas been charged with conspiracyto commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. According to multiple outlets, including theLos Angeles TimesandThe Hollywood Reporter, she has been arrested and is presently in custody. She is expected to be released on a signature bond and appear for a future court date.
Huffman, 56, also discussed the scheme in a recorded phone call with a cooperating witness, the indictment alleges.
According to the FBI affidavit, the cooperating witness told Huffman that he “controlled” a testing center, and could arrange for a third party to purport to proctor the SAT testing of Huffman’s daughter,Sofia Grace, 18. The proctor would then change incorrect answers, ensuring Grace got a higher score.
Prosecutors say they have recordings of Huffman talking about the scheme for her younger daughter Georgia Grace, but she ultimately ended up not doing it.
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy.Trae Patton/NBC
The Case Against Lori Loughlin
According to federal prosecutors, formerFull HousestarLori Loughlinallegedly wanted her daughters to get into the University of Southern California so badly that she and her fashion designer husband paid half a million dollars in bribes to falsely designate their daughters as recruits on the crew team.
Loughlin and her husband,J. Mossimo Giannulli, have been charged withconspiracy to commit mail fraudand honest services mail fraud.
The complaint alleges that Loughlin and her husband had the daughters pose as coxswains for a local crew team as well as on rowing machines, adding that federal agents obtained emails from Loughlin and her husband allegedly implicating them in the scam.
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The Colleges Respond
Admissions to the schools mentioned in the complaint are extremely competitive: For first-time, full-time undergraduates, only 5 percent of applicants get into Stanford, 7 percent get into Yale, 17 percent get into Georgetown, 18 percent get into the University of Southern California and 29 percent get into Wake Forest, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Many of the schools targeted in the scheme have since responded to the allegations.
In aresponse, USC maintained that it has not been “accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate fully with the government’s investigation.” USC is now conducting an internal investigation and reviewing its admissions process.
Stanford University announced that it has terminated the school’s head sailing coach, who was implicated in the case.
Wake Forest University tells PEOPLE that it has placed their volleyball coach on administrative leave following his alleged role in the plot.
source: people.com
