HOW THEY DID IT
Emails, wiretaps detail actresses’ roles in scandal
“Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman was desperate to get her oldest daughter into an elite university.
Her drive was so intense, prosecutors claim she, much like “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin, wielded her wealth to game the system.
In lengthy court filings unsealed in federal court in Boston, justice officials detailed exactly how the Hollywood heavyweights allegedly paid bribes to either doctor their offspring’s college entrance exams or secure acceptance letters based on bogus athletic credentials.
Huffman took advantage of an SAT scam that cost $15,000, authorities allege. Loughlin and her fashion designer hubby, Mossimo Giannulli, meanwhile, allegedly paid a total of $500,000 to get their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact they had no rowing credentials.
Both well-known actresses, as well as Giannulli, have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Actor William H. Macy was not charged, but he was mentioned in court filings as Huffman’s “spouse” and was caught on a wiretap allegedly discussing the scheme.
According to prosecutors, Huffman and Macy allegedly met with a cooperating witness – thought to be scandal mastermind William Rick Singer – at their Los Angeles home prior to their daughter’s December 2017 SAT test to hear how the “scheme” worked, court filings state.
The witness advised the famous couple that he “controlled” a testing center in West Hollywood and could arrange for a third party to administer the exam and then “secretly correct her answers afterward,” the paperwork states.
Huffman and Macy allegedly agreed to pay $15,000 to Singer’s sham charity for the service, prosecutors claim.
As part of the plan, Huffman was coached on how she could obtain twice as much time for her daughter to take the test, the paperwork states.
In October 2017, Huffman’s oldest daughter received a letter from the College Board advising she had been approved for the extra time.
“Hurray! She got it,” Huffman said in an email obtained by authorities.
When the daughter’s high school stepped in and said it would be the correct place for her to take the exam with extra time on Dec. 3, 2017, Huffman reached out to the witness.
“Ruh Ro! Looks like (my daughter’s high school) wants to provide own proctor,” she wrote in an email obtained by the FBI.
They successfully moved the exam to the West Hollywood Test Center, the location allegedly “controlled” by Singer, prosecutors allege.
With the help of Singer’s paid proctor, Huffman’s daughter received a score of 1420 on the SAT, the paperwork states – 400 points over her PSAT.
The same cooperating witness also helped authorities build their case against Loughlin and Giannulli, prosecutors say.
On April 22, 2016, Giannulli sent an email to the witness stating that he had just met with his older daughter’s college counselor and was worried about getting her into a college “other than ASU,” a reference to Arizona State University.
“If you want (U)SC, I have the game plan ready to go into motion,” the witness replied.
Loughlin and Giannulli then agreed “to use bribes to facilitate her admission to USC as a recruited crew coxswain, even though she did not row competitively or otherwise participate in crew,” the paperwork states.
On Sept. 7, 2016, Giannulli sent an email to the witness that included a photo of his older daughter on an ergometer, or rowing machine, prosecutors allege.