Rich & Famous​ Snared In California College Cheating Scandal

LOS ANGELES, CA — Federal prosecutors indicted dozens of people — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, CEOs and college coaches — in an alleged scheme to cheat and bribe their children's way into college. Dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," it's the largest college admissions cheating scandal in U.S. history.

The indictment alleges dozens of parents paid for help cheating on college entrance exams or applications to the likes of Yale, Georgetown, University of San Diego, Stanford, UCLA and USC. It reads as a veritable who's who of the wealthy elite and lays bare a system rigged for those willing and able to pay. According to prosecutors, parents paid a Newport Beach college prep business as much as $75,000 to have someone take SAT or ACT exams for their children. Others allegedly paid hundreds of thousands in bribes to college coaches to make their child an "athletic recruit" regardless of whether the students even played sports. In several cases, parents had their children photoshopped into sporting events to make them look like athletes, prosecutors contend. Bolstered by transcripts of recorded conversations, the case reaped mortification on privileged families ensnared by prosecutors.

Athletic coaches from USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, were implicated in the scheme.

In court documents unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors named 50 people in the $25 million scheme. The coaches include longtime UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo and USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic, according to documents released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.

"There will not be a separate admissions system for the wealthy. And there will not be a separate criminal justice system either," said Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

The FBI recorded calls involving the actresses and a cooperating witness.

RELATED: 'Operation Varsity Blues:' College Cheating Scheme Names Dozens

Loughlin, best known for her role in the sitcom "Full House," and Huffman, who starred in the ABC hit show "Desperate Housewives," were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. Huffman made her initial federal court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles and was expected to be released on a $250,000 bond -- signed in court by her husband, actor William H. Macy. The Academy Award nominee has been ordered to appear in federal court in Boston on March 29.

Representatives for Loughlin and Huffman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Huffman paid $15,000 to help her daughter cheat on the college entrance exam, according to prosecutors. Her famous husband was not charged Tuesday although court documents indicate that he was involved in conversations about the alleged scheme.

Loughlin and her husband designer Mossimo Giannulli allegedly spent $500,000 on bribes to get their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team—despitethe fact that they did not participate in crew.

Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli is a freshman at USC and a Youtube and Instagram "influencer," who posted sponsored content about being a student, the New York Times reported Tuesday. She has millions of followers. According to the newspaper, the scandal calls into question the legitimacy of her college admission, but Justice Department told reporters that no students were named in the indictment as many did not know about their parents' alleged actions.

According to the court documents, prosecutors allege William Rick Singer, who founded a college preparation business out of Newport Beach, was the mastermind behind a scheme to charge parents from $15,000 to $75,000 to pay someone to take SAT or ACT exams for their children. He allegedly bribed Los Angeles test administrator Igor Dvorsiky to allow a man to take the tests on behalf of his clients.

According to court documents, clients funneled bribes through Key Worldwide Foundation charitable accounts "to bribe coaches and university administrators at elite universities nationwide. In exchange for the bribes, the coaches and administrators agreed to designate the children of these clients as recruited athletes, or some other preferred category, thereby facilitating the children's admission to the universities."

Dozens of people were named in the case on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; honest services wire fraud to conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Laguna Beach resident Douglas Hodge, the former CEO of Pacific Investment Management Co., was also indicted for allegedly bribing officials to get his children into USC and Georgetown as bogus athletic recruits. According to the indictment, his daughter applied to Georgetown in 2008 as a champion of multiple United States Tennis Association tournaments even though she never played in the tournament.

According to the indictment, Hodge sought to improve his daughter's chance of admission by making her look like an athletic recruit. "So, who knows? This may prove the defining piece in the college puzzle,” he wrote in authorizing the alleged bribe.

According to the indictment, Hodge and his spouse took pains to get their son into USC as a football and tennis recruit even though he didn't play either sport.

Some alleged crimes involved parents repeatedly cheating on behalf of their children.

Atherton couple Elizabeth Henriquez, 56 and her husband 55-year-old Manuel Henrique, the founder, chairman and CEO of a publicly traded specialty finance company, repeatedly paid to have someone take tests for their children, and they bribed a Georgetown coach to falsey designate their older daughter as a tennis recruit, prosecutors allege.

City News Service and Bay City News contributed to this report.