Lori Loughlin Among 16 Parents Hit With New Money Laundering Charges In College Bribery Scandal
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Actress Lori Loughlin and 15 other parents accused in the college admissions scandal are facing a new money laundering charge in the case.
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that the 54-year-old Loughlin and her husband, 55-year-old fashion mogul Mossimo Giannulli, are now charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering. This is on top of the previous two counts they each face of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Loughlin and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes so their two daughters would be designated as recruits to the USC crew team, even though neither ever rowed crew. Both daughters are still enrolled at USC, but have not attended class since the scandal broke.
Loughlin appeared in court last week on the original charges, but did not enter a plea. Loughlin and Giannulli are both free on $1 million bond
Mail fraud, honest services mail fraud and money laundering each come with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The new counts come after fellow actress Felicity Huffman was one of 13 parents and one coach who announced Monday they will plead guilty in the scandal. Huffman is confessing to paying a $15,000 bribe in the form of a donation to help her oldest daughter cheat on the SAT.
Among the group was also Bruce Isackson and his wife Davina Isackson, who are confessing to paying bribes in order to get their two daughters admitted to UCLA and USC as student athletes. One of their daughters, Lauren Isackson, actually played on UCLA's practice squad. The other was admitted to USC as a member of the crew team even though she had never rowed.
On March 12, the FBI charged 50 people -- including 33 parents and nine coaches -- in a massive bribery scheme in which wealthy families paid millions to a Newport Beach businessman named Rick Singer to help their children cheat on standardized tests and bribe test administrators and college coaches to help get their kids into top universities like UCLA, USC, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown.
Parents charged in the alleged scheme are accused of paying Singer a total of $25 million between 2011 and February 2019 for the arrangement. Along with bribing test administrators and college coaches, Singer used some of that money to create fake athletic profiles to help get students admitted into athletic programs.
The other 14 parents facing the new money laundering charge are:
Diane Blake, 55, of Ross, Calif.
Todd Blake, 53, of Ross, Calif.
I-Hsin "Joey" Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif.
Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.
Manuel Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, Calif.
Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, Calif.
Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, Calif.
William McGlashan, Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, Calif.
Marci Palatella, 63, of Hillsborough, Calif.
Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, Calif.
Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, aka "Gamal Aziz," of Las Vegas
John Wilson, 59, of Lynnfield, Mass.
Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami, Fla.
Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas.
