A grand jury in Boston has indicted 16 parents accused of participating in a large-scale college admissions bribery scheme on new conspiracy charges, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said Tuesday.
The parents, including actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying admissions consultant William “Rick” Singer to bribe college coaches and rig test scores to get their children into elite universities.
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Prosecutors said Loughlin, Giannullil and 14 others were handed additional charges Tuesday of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Authorities identified all the parents charged in the superseding indictment as:
- Gamal Abdelaziz, 62, aka "Gamal Aziz," of Las Vegas
- Diane Blake, 55, of Ross, California
- Todd Blake, 53, of Ross, California
- I-Hsin "Joey" Chen, 64, of Newport Beach, California
- Giannulli, 55, of Los Angeles
- Elizabeth Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, California
- Manuel Henriquez, 56, of Atherton, California
- Douglas Hodge, 61, of Laguna Beach, California
- Michelle Janavs, 48, of Newport Coast, California
- Elisabeth Kimmel, 54, of Las Vegas
- Loughlin, 54, of Los Angeles
- William McGlashan, Jr., 55, of Mill Valley, California
- Marci Palatella, 63, of Hillsborough, California
- John Wilson, 59, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts
- Homayoun Zadeh, 57, of Calabasas, California
- Robert Zangrillo, 52, of Miami
Authorities said three other parents, identified as David Sidoo, 59, of Vancouver, Canada; Gregory Colburn, 61, of Palo Alto, California; and Amy Colburn, 59, also of Palo Alto; were previously indicted in connection with the scheme.
News of the indictment came one day after authorities announced 13 parents, including actress Felicity Huffman, planned to plead guilty to charges leveled at them in connection to the case.
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Authorities charged 50 people last month as part of the admissions scheme. At least nine college athletic coaches have been charged as part of the investigation, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues, authorities said.
Officials have said Singer has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators. Former Yale women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith has also pleaded guilty.
Several coaches have pleaded not guilty, including tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who is accused of accepting $2.7 million in bribes to designate at least 12 applicants as recruits to Georgetown University.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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