Federal prosecutors charged dozens of people on Tuesday in a giant college entrance scandal in which wealthy parents, including some high-profile actresses and a slew of business executives, paid bribes and worked with cooperating witnesses to get their children into top colleges across the U. S.
Federal prosecutors charged dozens of people on Tuesday in a giant college entrance scandal in which wealthy parents, including some high-profile actresses and a slew of business executives, paid bribes and worked with cooperating witnesses to get their children into top colleges across the U. S.
The sprawling investigation made airwaves across the country, as people reacted with shock to the news of some of the countries wealthiest citizens were allegedly buying positions for their kids and consequently cheating other qualified students out of the running.
Justice Department officials said at a news conference in Boston on Tuesday that it’s the biggest college entrance scandal it has ever prosecuted.
Among those charged with fraud are actresses Felicity Huffman, who starred in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” and Lori Loughlin, who appeared in ABC’s “Full House,” as well as business executives like Douglas Hodge, a former CEO of Pimco investment management company, and Manuel Henriquez, chairman and CEO of Hercules Technology Growth Capital, whose stock price fell more than 9 percent Tuesday afternoon.
The indictment said that in most instances, students and children were unaware of the bribes and fraudulent activity of their parents, such as doctoring exam scores and creating fake resumes and profiles to up their chances of getting into school. Prosecutors did not charge any students or colleges.
Here’s some key points to how it all went down.
Funneling bribe money into a ‘charitable’ account
The so-called ringleader of the scandal was William Singer, founder of a college preparatory business called the Edge College & Career Network, who was arrested for running the scheme using a fraudulent charity.
