The court sent the famous actress to prison for a bribe when her daughter entered college

The star of the series "Desperate Housewives" Felicity Huffman, the court sentenced to 14 days in prison. In addition, the actress must pay a fine of $ 30 thousand and work out 250 hours of community service. Writes about this "Voice of America".

Фото: Depositphotos

In May 2019 Huffman pleaded guilty in conspiracy and fraud.

She paid $ 15 of thousands of fake charities that are linked to fraud scheme organizer Rick Singer. In the end, it helped her daughter pass the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT is an exam that tests basic school knowledge in subjects).

“I fully admit my guilt and deeply regret and ashamed of what I have done. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any consequences that arise from these actions <...> I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to go to university, and to their parents, who donate a lot to support their children and doing it honestly, ”Huffman said.

Huffman is the first of 51 accused in this case: wealthy parents gave bribes so that their children could enter elite US universities.

How it all happened

The Massachusetts prosecutor’s office on 12 in March published details of a massive fraudulent scheme for admission to prestigious universities in the country. 50 people are on the incomplete list of defendants. At the center of the scheme is William "Rick" Singer, the owner of a university preparatory program.

On the subject: How did the money laundering industry start in the US and Russia?

According to investigators, since 2011, Singer received about $ 25 million from wealthy parents to the accounts of his formally charitable organization as bribes to guarantee admission of children to elite universities.

Separate charges of tax evasion were filed against parents - payments were made as charitable donations, and therefore bribes paid to Singer were not taxed.

Singer was charged with conspiracy to extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The case involves 31 parent and 18 administrators, examiners, and sports coaches from several large and prestigious American universities (including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, and the University of Southern California).

According to investigators, Singer helped his clients' children fraudulently to get higher scores on SAT / ACT tests for graduates. He advised clients to get a doctor's opinion that their children had learning problems: this gave adolescents extra time on tests and the opportunity to pass them separately from the rest of schoolchildren.

On the subject: American Majors: How the Bribery System Worked in US Elite Universities

Then the parents had to change the test location: to a school in Houston, Texas, or in the vicinity of Los Angeles, California. There, the prosecution claims, Singer agreed with the test administrators, Nicky Williams and Igor Dvorsky. For amounts up to $ 10 000 for a test (customers paid Singer from $ 15000 to $ 75000 for a test) Williams and Dvorsky, claims the charge, allowed third parties to take tests instead of those who were tested, or dictated the correct answers to teens or corrected tests already written by applicants.

The prosecutor's office notes that in many cases the children did not know about the fraudulent scheme.

But tests were just one of the components. Sports in American universities is a multi-billion dollar industry. Applicants showing good achievements in sports, as a rule, can count on benefits for enrollment. This was used by Singer, who represented the children of his rich clients as outstanding athletes, even if they had never engaged in rowing (for example, the daughters of actress Lori Loughlin), football or water polo.

On the subject: Ex-Immigration Officer Distributes US Citizenship for Bribes

Parents took staged photos or the Singer team retouched other people's photos, and at the same time came up with an impressive sports biography for the clients' children. Questions arose only from the staff of the schools where the graduates studied: “How is he the future champion in water polo? In our school, even this group was not like this! ".

In these frauds, according to the prosecution, Singer was assisted by bribed coaches and sports administrators of several major universities. Immediately four worked at the University of Southern California. They helped to avoid questions after enrollment: why the student is not engaged in the declared sport? Usually they tried to write this off as an injury.

Bribes were transferred to administrators under the guise of donations to the development funds of certain sports programs.

As previously wrote ForumDaily:

• 13 parents and one trainer admitted their guilt in a case of fraud in entering prestigious US universities.
• A native of Ukraine Igor Dvorsky, director of a preparatory school from West Hollywood, turned out to be implicated in scandalous fraudulent scheme admission to the best universities in the USA

Read also on ForumDaily:

In life, like in the movies: why the Pentagon and Hollywood collaborate

Instead of a colony: how in America forced reading rehabilitates vandals

American Majors: How the Bribery System Worked in US Elite Universities

6 financial crimes you may accidentally commit

How did the money laundering industry start in the US and Russia?

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.