New details emerged Tuesday in the feds’ bribery case against TV actress Lori Loughlin and her husband — as prosecutors tried to further put the squeeze on defendants in the explosive college admissions scandal.
According to a new indictment from a grand jury in Boston slapping the celebrity couple and nine other parents with an additional bribery rap, admitted college admissions fixer Rick Singer emailed the former “Full House” star and her fashion designer spouse, Mossimo Giannulli, in August 2016 to iron out details of their scheme.
Singer wrote that “he needed a copy of their older daughter’s transcript and test scores ‘very soon while I create a coxswain [rower] portfolio for her. It would probably help to get a picture of her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete too,’” according to the court documents unveiled Tuesday.
Loughlin and her husband are accused of shelling out $500,000 in bribes to Singer, who had a network of illicit cohorts, to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California by passing the teens off as crew athletes. Neither of the girls had ever rowed.
Giannulli responded, “Fantastic. Will get all,” the papers state.
The next spring, in March 2017, Singer’s accountant then “emailed a $200,000 invoice to Giannulli and Loughlin. The invoice thanked Giannulli and Loughlin for their pledge to KWF and further stated that their ‘private contribution’ of $200,000 was now due,” court papers show, referring to Singer’s straw “non-profit,” the Key Worldwide Foundation.
A few days later, Giannulli emailed Singer, cc’ing Loughlin, informing their alleged co-conspirator, “We are currently on holiday in the Bahamas but will gladly handle this when home next week,” the documents allege.
The next month, the fashion designer wrote Singer again, again cc’ing the actress, saying, “I want to thank you again for your great work with [our older daughter], she is very excited and both Lori and I are very appreciative of your efforts and end result!” according to the papers.
“When Singer responded by asking if there was a ‘similar need anywhere so we do not lose a spot’ for their younger daughter, Loughlin replied: ‘Yes USC for [our younger daughter]!’” the documents said.
The couple are among dozens of well-heeled parents caught up in the scandal.
Former “Desperate Housewives” TV actress Felicity Huffman is currently serving a 14-day sentence for paying Singer $15,000 to boost one of her daughters’ SAT scores.
Tuesday’s added charge against 11 parents in the case involves conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, which can be used in cases involving organizations that receive $10,000 or more from the federal government, including in research grants.
Prosecutors had warned the holdout parents for weeks that additional charges might come if they didn’t plead out their cases. The deadline for the parents to accept a deal was Monday.
Loughlin and her husband, for example, already face charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
The additional rap carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, plus fines and probation.
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