Loughlin told daughters to do better in school: document
BOSTON — Actress Lori Loughlin told her two daughters they needed to do better in high school as she was plotting to get them admitted into the University of Southern California as fake crew recruits, prosecutors allege in new court documents.
The detail came from Rick Singer, the mastermind of a nationwide college admissions scheme, in an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation before Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannuli, were charged with federal crimes in March.
Both have pleaded not guilty to fraud, bribery and money laundering charges for paying $500,000 in bribes to Singer in exchange for orchestrating their daughters’ admissions into USC. Singer started cooperating with prosecutors last year.
The U.S. attorney’s office summarized what Singer and other witnesses told the FBI about Loughlin and Giannulli in a Nov. 27 letter to the celebrity couple’s attorneys. The letter is attached to a motion filed by the couple’s defense Friday that accuses prosecutors of concealing evidence in the case — namely FBI “302 reports” that detail statements and interview notes taken during the “Varsity Blues” college admissions investigation.
“Lori Loughlin was in charge and told the couple’s daughters that they needed to do better in high school,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling wrote in the letter, recounting what Singer told the FBI.
The letter came in response to the couple’s attorneys’ requests for the government to hand over FBI’s witness interviews, which they’ve argued would prove Loughlin and Giannulli thought they made “legitimate donations” when they paid $500,000 to Singer’s nonprofit, the Key Worldwide Foundation, and USC. Instead of turning over the FBI “302” reports, prosecutors summarized the contents.
Singer also told the FBI that he warned Giannulli that a college counselor at Marymount High School, where the daughters attended, “could mess things up,” according to their summary of Singer’s FBI interview.
The warning came after the counselor allegedly started asking questions about why Olivia Jade, the couple’s younger daughter, was admitted to USC as a crew recruit when she did not play the sport. Singer told Giannulli to speak to the counselor, Singer said in his interview with the FBI.
Josh Adams, USC’s crew coach, told the FBI that, although not typical, the USC crew team sometimes takes recruits without experience, according to the letter.