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 U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ordered Loughlin, one of several
high-profile figures from entertainment and business caught up
in the scandal, released from federal custody on $1 million bond
following a brief hearing.
Douglas Hodge, the former chief executive of the investment firm
Pimco, and another of the 33 parents charged in the $25 million
scam, appeared earlier in the day in a Boston court. He was
released on $500,000 secured bond by a federal magistrate who
overruled a federal prosecutor's objection to Hodge keeping his
passport.
The Los Angeles judge ruled that Loughlin could continue
traveling to and from British Columbia for a number of
productions she is working on as long as she notifies U.S.
authorities in advance of each trip. But the TV star was ordered
to relinquish her passport by December.
Loughlin and Hodge are among 50 people charged with taking part
in a scam that steered graduating high school students into
elite universities, including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford, by
cheating the admissions process. Prosecutors called it the
largest such scandal in U.S. history.
The University of Southern California's interim president, Wanda
Austin, issued a statement saying anyone involved who applied
for the upcoming academic year will be denied admission, while
current students implicated in the scheme will be reviewed on a
case-by-case basis. USC said Tuesday two employees -- a senior
associate athletic director and women's water polo coach -- were
fired in connection with the scandal.
Another parent charged in the scheme, Manuel Henriquez, resigned
as chief executive officer of the finance company Hercules
Capital Inc , the company said early on Wednesday.
Gordon Caplan, who prosecutors say paid $75,000 last year to
have some of his daughter's wrong answers corrected on a college
entrance exam, was placed on leave from his post as co-chairman
of the global law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the company
said on Wednesday.
MONTHS OF WIRETAPS
The mastermind of the scheme, William "Rick" Singer, pleaded
guilty on Tuesday to racketeering charges. Prosecutors in the
U.S. attorney's office in Boston say his company, Edge College &
Career Network, made $25 million since embarking on the fraud in
2011, offering what he promised was a "guarantee" of admission.
After months of having his calls wiretapped, Singer ended up
cooperating with investigators last September, helping them
secretly record incriminating conversations he had with parents.
The elaborate scheme involved bribing the administrators of
college entrance tests to allow a child's wrong answers to be
corrected or for someone else to take the test in their place.
Singer also arranged for parents to bribe university coaches to
attest to a child being athletically gifted.
In some cases, though not all, Singer ensured the child was
oblivious to the cheating.
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"They feel good about themselves," he told Caplan in a phone
call, according to the criminal complaint. "And they just have
no idea that they didn't even get the score that they thought
they got."
In some instances, Singer even helped doctor photographs to make
a child appear athletic.
Parents made their payments to a sham charity Singer ran,
prosecutors said, which also allowed them to take a fraudulent
tax write-off. The fake charity, Key Worldwide Foundation,
purported to help provide an education to "underprivileged
students."
It was unclear how many children benefited, and investigators
said more parents and coaches may yet be charged. In telephone
conversations intercepted by investigators, Singer brags of
having helped hundreds of students, while in others he reassures
parents he has helped more than 20 or 30 other students cheat in
recent years.
GIFTED ROWERS
Loughlin is accused of paying Singer $500,000 to help both her
daughters cheat their way into USC by bribing an athletics
official at the school to pretend the girls were gifted rowers.
Her husband, the designer Mossimo Giannulli, is also charged
with fraud, and appeared in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday
before being released on $1 million bail.
One of the daughters, Olivia Giannulli, has become a prominent
"influencer" on social media under the name "Olivia Jade."
"Officially a college student!" she captioned an Instagram
photograph she posted in September, which showed her in her USC
dorm room decorated with items she had ordered from online
retailer Amazon.com Inc , which paid her for the post.
Other notable parents charged by the Boston U.S. attorney's
office include actress Felicity Huffman, who starred in
"Desperate Housewives"; and Bill McGlashan Jr., who headed a
buyout investment arm of private equity firm TPG Capital, which
put him on indefinite leave after he was charged.
Huffman was one of several charged who appeared in court on
Tuesday before being released on bonds.
Representatives of accused parents either declined to comment or
did not respond to inquiries. Several of the coaches accused of
accepting bribes have been fired, placed on leave or have
resigned.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los
Angeles; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Writing by Jonathan Allen; editing by Bill Tarrant and Lisa
Shumaker)
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