Lori Loughlin deleted her Instagram and Twitter accounts on Tuesday as federal authorities tried to arrest her in connection with a college admission scandal.
Loughlin’s Instagram and Twitter accounts disappeared shortly after a warrant for her arrest was issued on Tuesday. The actress was one of 33 parents accused of paying exorbitant bribes to get their children admitted to Yale, Stanford, Georgetown or the University of Southern California. According to CBS News, scammers allegedly paid for either admittance based on athletic merit or faked SAT and ACT scores.
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Loughlin’s Instagram profile still showed up briefly on Tuesday morning, though all of her posts and Stories were gone. A while later, the page went completely dark. Meanwhile, her name and verified icon still appear in Twitter’s search bar, but the profile is non-existent.
Loughlin’s husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, has also been implicated in the cheating scandal, according to a report by CNN. He was arrested on Tuesday morning when federal officials showed up, though Loughlin was not. A warrant is still out for the actress, who is expected to surrender to federal agents in Los Angeles this afternoon.
In total, 31 other parents were arrested on Tuesday, including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman. Others reportedly included corporate executives and other wealthy individuals. Federal authorities also arrested university coaches and standardized test administrators for taking the bribes. In total, 50 warrants were issued.
The whole scandal centers around a man named William Rick Singer, who ran an admission consultancy company called Edge College and Career Network LLC. He is accused of facilitating the bribes, collecting money from parents and then passing it along to the appropriate people. In some cases, Singe would pay the coaches to forge a profile for the students as athletes, admitting them to school that way.
In other cases, Signer paid administrators of the SATs and ACTs, who would either correct the students’ scores on the test or else hire a proctor to take it on their behalf. In the case of Loughlin and Giannulli, officials say their bribe was disguised as a “charitable contribution,” but they knew what it was really for.
Singer is expected to plead guilty, authorities say. He will face a maximum sentence of up 65 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He will also pay about $1.45 million in fines. Singer’s charges include Racketeering conspiracy, money laundering, tax conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Loughlin and her husband have yet to make a public statement on the case.
