A criminal conspiracy that shook the nation stayed hidden for seven years. From 2011 to 2018, parents, students, and even college administrators were flying under the radar, committing criminal activities right under the nose of law enforcement. 

With 51 people indicted, 33 are parents, 17 are students, and the last individual is William Rick Singer, a college admissions administrator. 

Singer specifically is being charged with mail fraud, honest services mail fraud, and money laundering. Singer was paid 25 million dollars to inflate test exam scores and to bribe college officials in favor of the students and parents. 

After the charges were pressed, Singer pled guilty and started working with the FBI. Singer cooperated with the bureau and helped them gather incriminating evidence against his co-conspirators. 

Singer is looking at facing up to 65 years in prison, and a fine of around 1.25 million dollars. 

The parents involved have used bribery and fraud to get their children admitted into 11 different universities in total. Sources report that the parents involved include well-known actors and the others being described as ̈prominent business people.¨  

Among the parents involved with the conspiracy, the list includes: Gamal Aziz, Diane and Todd Blake, Mossimo Giannulli, Lori Loughlin, Douglas M. Hodge, Agustin Huneeus Jr., Davina and Bruce Isackson, Elisabeth Kimmel, Toby McFarlane, Marci Palatella, Stephen Semprevivo, Devin Sloan, John Wilson, Homayoun Zadeh, Robert Zangrillo, Robert Flaxman, Elizabeth and Manuel Henriquez, Michelle Janavs, Bill McGlashan, Gregory and Marcia Abbott, Jane Buckingham, Gordon Caplan, Amy and Gregory Colburn, Felicity Huffman, Marjorie Klapper, Peter Jan Santorio, David Sidoo, and Morrie Tobin. 

The charges that the parents are facing include up to 20 years of imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine. 

A month after the initial convictions, it was reported that 16 of the 33 parents were also being indicted for alleged felony conspiracy to commit money laundering, which is defined as follows:  ̈Money laundering is the illegal process of concealing the origins of money obtained illegally by passing it through a complex sequence of banking transfers or commercial transactions. The overall scheme of this process returns the money to the launderer in an obscure and indirect way. ̈