The list of parents pleading guilty for paying bribes to get their children accepted into top higher educational institutions is getting bigger with each passing day.
Last week, four parents – Douglas Hodge, Manuel Henriquez, Elizabeth Henriquez, and Michelle Janavs – have each agreed to plead guilty to counts ranging from conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering to committing racketeering.
Henriquez pleaded guilty to conspiring with Rick Singer to have their daughters’ college entrance exams corrected and fraudulently inflating their scores.
Federal prosecutors say that Singer, the founder of Edge College & Career Network, facilitated cheating on standardized tests, used his non-profit to accept roughly $25 million from parents, and wired bribes to coaches who were part of the scheme.
Janavs accepted that he also conspired with Singer and others to secure her children’s admission to selective colleges and universities through bribery and fraud. While Hodge paid Singer a total of $525,000 to facilitate the admission of his son and daughter to the University of South California as athletes.
The scandal was first uncovered in March, when a federal court in Boston charged 50 people, including famous Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin, for allegedly paying bribes to get their children accepted into top higher education institutions. It included 33 parents, nine college athletic coaches, two SAT/ACT administrators, one exam proctor, and one college administrator.
The U.S. Department of Education is also investigating eight colleges linked to the admission scandal to examine if any federal laws or rules were violated.
Meanwhile, the grand jury in the District of Massachusetts has given its nod to file additional charges against 11 of the 15 parents charged in the college admissions case including Loughlin.
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