Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman has been released on bail of $250,000 (€221,000) after appearing court over a major US university bribery scam.
Ms Huffman is one of around 50 people charged with taking part in an elaborate scheme to game the college admissions process to get rich children into Ivy League colleges, like Stanford and Yale.
It is alleged wealthy parents bribed athletics coaches, insiders at testing centres, exam administrators and admissions counsellors to have their children offered college places.
Authorities have called it the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the US Justice Department – with parents accused of paying an estimated $25m (€22m) in bribes.
Star charges
In court in LA this morning, Ms Huffman looked repeatedly at her husband – actor William H Macy – before she was granted bail.
The whereabouts of Full House star Lori Loughlin, who was also charged along with her husband, and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are not clear.
Actress Lori Loughlin poses with her daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, 28-02-2019. Image: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, FileA magistrate judge in Los Angeles set a $1 million (€880,000) bond for Mr Giannulli.
Ms Loughlin is expected to appear in court in Boston on Wednesday.
Both he and Ms Huffman were both told to surrender their passports.
Operation Varsity Blues
Announcing the results of the fraud and conspiracy investigation, code-named Operation Varsity Blues, on Tuesday, prosecutor Andrew Lelling described the accused “as a catalogue of wealth and privilege.”
At least nine athletics coaches are among the charged – holding positions at Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, Wake Forest, the University of Texas, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
The scandal revolves around an organisation Edge College & Career Network (ECCN), also known as the Key and its sister organisation the Key Worldwide Foundation.
Prosecutors say the organisations effectively worked as a single enterprise to get students into college using fake athletics credentials.
ECCN founder William "Rick" Singer has now pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
No students have been charged, with authorities saying that in many cases the teenagers were unaware of what was going on.
Actor William H. Macy arrives at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles, where his wife Felicity Huffman is among fifty people facing charges over an alleged college bribery scandal, 12-03-2019. Image: AP Photo/Alex GallardoFelicity Huffman
According to court documents, Ms Huffman is accused of paying $15,000 disguised as a charitable donation so that her daughter could take part in an entrance-exam cheating scam.
According to the AP news agency, the documents say a co-operating witness met with Huffman and husband Macy at their home in LA.
He explained to them that he "controlled" a testing centre and could arrange for her daughter's answers to be changed. It is alleged the couple agreed to the plan.
Mr Macy has not been charged, but authorities have not said why.
Full House star Lori Loughlin and her designer husband Mossimo Giannulli meanwhile are accused paid $500,000 to have their two daughters labelled as recruits to the USC crew rowing team, even though neither participated in the sport.
Their 19-year-old daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, a social media star with almost 2 million subscribers on YouTube, is now at USC.
Additional reporting IRN
