The FBI on Tuesday charged dozens of wealthy parents, including celebrities Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, in a major cheating and bribery scheme to get their children admitted into some of the nation’s most elite colleges. The scheme involved bribing coaches and college administrators — with about $25 million in payments over seven years — and paying off college entrance exam administrators to allow students to cheat on their tests, according to charging documents.

Among those charged are “Desperate Housewives” star Huffman and Loughlin of “Full House” fame. Loughlin’s husband, clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli, was also charged. They and several others are accused of scheming to get their children into schools including Georgetown; Yale; Stanford; the University of Texas; the University of Southern California; the University of California, Los Angeles; and others.

Coaches at Georgetown, USC, UCLA and other schools face racketeering charges.

The FBI says the parents paid a college counseling and test prep business in Newport Beach, Calif., called “The Key,” which bribed college coaches and administrators and organized a scheme to help students cheat on college entrance exams, including the ACT and SAT.
— Politico, 3/12/19

It appears one student was either too stupid and/or lazy to fill out her own college applications.

LOUGHLIN wrote: “[Our younger daughter] has not submitted all her colleges [sic] apps and is confused on how to do so. I want to make sure she gets those in as I don’t want to call any attention to [her] with our little friend at [her high school]. Can you tell us how to proceed?” Cooperating Witness-1 responded by directing an employee to submit the applications on behalf of the GIANNULLIS’ younger daughter.

Just so you know what we’re dealing with here.

“The Key” looks pretty legit, if you can afford the price of admission.

Authorities called it the biggest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department.

“These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege. For every student admitted through fraud, an honest and genuinely talented student was rejected,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in announcing the $25 million bribery case against 50 people in all. 
— US News, 3/12/19

Like they really gave a shit.

“In many instances, Singer helped parents take staged photographs of their children engaged in particular sports,” Massachusetts US Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a Tuesday press conference. “Other times, he used stock photos, sometimes Photoshopping the face of the child on the athlete, and submitting it.”

“I’ll pick a sport and we’ll do a picture of him, or … we’ll put his face on a picture, whatever,” Singer allegedly told the McGlashan. “I’ve already done that a million times.”
— New York Post, 3/12/19

Over the years, especially during the online digital age, we’ve seen children of the elite behaving badly, if not criminally indifferent and deranged. They drive expensive cars, drink and do drugs, and are routinely bailed out from the ramification of their actions because of the wealth and influence of their parents.

On December 30, 2018, supermodel Cindy Crawford‘s son Presley Gerber was arrested for driving under the influence. Gerber, who was 19 at the time of his arrest, was pulled over in Beverly Hills, CA, when police saw him speeding. Reportedly, Gerber smelled like alcohol when he was pulled over.

Chet Hanks, the second son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, has openly struggled with drug addiction. He checked into rehab in 2015, but not before he got himself in hot water for rear-ending a driver named Terry Moogan in California. In 2016, Tom and Rita were also named as co-defendants in the driver’s suit against Chet. Moogan said that he suffered physical and emotional injuries as a result of the crash, and that Hanks and Wilson were partly to blame since they knew about Chet’s struggle with sobriety and technically owned the car.

Nicolas Cage‘s son, Weston, born Dec. 26, 1990, was arrested for domestic violence in 2011. He also went to rehab for drug abuse.

Robert Downey Jr.‘s son, Indio Downey, was busted with cocaine and charged with a felony count of possession of a controlled substance in 2014. The 20-year-old was later sent to rehab by his father.

Jackie Chan‘s son, Jaycee, was sentenced to six months in prison in Beijing after being caught up in a huge drug bust in 2015. Chinese police found more than 100 grams of marijuana in the 32 year old’s apartment. This, despite the fact that Jackie Chan was named an anti-drugs ambassador by the Chinese government in 2009.

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore‘s daughter, Scout, born July 20, 1991, was arrested for giving cops a fake ID after she was caught with an open beer. In 2014, their youngest daughter, Tallulah, entered rehab at age 20 after years of hard partying.

Michael Jordan‘s son, Marcus, born Dec. 24, 1990, was arrested for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in 2012 after engaging in a loud fight with two women. More recently, Marcus took to Twitter to share a picture of his penis.

Cameron Douglas, the son of actor Michael Douglas and his former wife Diandra Morrell Douglas has been arrested for drug offenses at least three times. In 2010, he was given a 5 year prison sentence for selling methamphetamine from a high-end Manhattan hotel. After repeatedly violating prison rules by arranging for his lawyer to smuggle him drugs in jail, he was ordered to spend 2 years in solitary confinement and his prison sentence was nearly doubled.

Lionel Richie‘s daughter, Nicole, born Sept. 21, 1981, was charged with possession of heroin in 2003. Nicole Richie was also convicted of drunk driving in 2006.
— Ranker

And of course, this is only part of a published list. Many of these stories went under the radar because high-priced attorneys could keep court records sealed, the entertainment media which cares more about celebrity access (than informing the public) looked the other way, and these rich kids could continue to be proven more of a pain-in-the-ass to their celebrity parents.

And when it came time to hope they’d go to college, some weren’t even smart enough to do that on their own. Lori Loughlin’s daughter was arrogantly honest… on YouTube.

Last August, Olivia (aka Olivia Jade) posted a video to her YouTube account in which she talked about “all the tea you need to know about me,” which touched on everything from boys to college to YouTubers.

“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend,” she said in the video. “But I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of, like, game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”
— Yahoo, 3/12/19

Now, we’re not saying their parents should have cheated… but we understand and who will be the first to whine that President Donald Trump’s FBI is picking on them. Can’t imagine why they’d think he’d have any animosity towards anyone in and around Hollywood.

While the dollar figures suggest this a real big deal, media coverage will wane because that’s why these celebs hire publicists. While their job is promote, it’s also to do damage control thus making inconvenient publicity not hurt so bad. Ask anyone who’s lived there, that’s the way things work in Los Angeles. And don’t look for a movie coming out regarding this scandal in the near future because Hollywood very rarely unveils morality tales when it comes to their personal debauchery or illegal activities.

We just got Jay Leno out in NYC and asked him about the scandal … Leno certainly didn’t hold back, calling the whole thing “the definition of white privilege.“
— TMZ, 3/13/19

Ya think?

Remember this when sanctimonious Hollywood celebrities lecture the American people during award ceremonies, etc. about honesty and/or decency. They exploit their privilege, many of their kids are losers and it appears no amount of money can fix that. What’s also sad is that, according to the federal indictment, the brats didn’t know their parents greased the skids for them, which means some of them actually think they’re intellectuals.

This in not to say all of Hollywood’s kids run afoul of the law. Many stay out of trouble and wind up like a Kardashian or Hilton.

UPDATE

This wouldn’t even be a plotline for a bad Hallmark movie.

As Lori Loughlin traveled from Vancouver to L.A. Tuesday night to surrender to federal authorities in the college bribery scandal — Olivia spent the night on the yacht of the Chairman of USC’s Board of Trustees … but she’s off the boat now, TMZ has learned. We’ve learned 19-year-old Olivia was on Rick Caruso’s yacht in the Bahamas.
— TMZ, 3/13/19

Sucks not to be fawned over simply because you exist. Another continues to prove the point that these children of the elite are just vile human beings.

Gregory and Marcia Abbott’s “rapper” son, Malcolm, popped out of the family’s Fifth Avenue building to smoke a giant blunt — while defending his parents and bragging about his latest CD.
— New York Post, 3/13/19

Reality checks are a tough thing for the fragile egos of those who live large in the land of make believe.

Olivia Jade, 19, and her sister, 20-year-old Isabella Rose, have decided to withdraw from USC days, TMZ reported. One source told the gossip website the girls worry they’ll be “viciously bullied” if they return to school.
— Page Six, 3/14/19

NOW, it’s becoming real to one brat.

Sephora has canceled its partnership with Olivia Jade Giannulli after her parents were charged in an explosive college-admissions bribery scandal. “After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately,” a Sephora representative said in a statement to Business Insider on Thursday.
— Business Insider, 3/14/19

In the past two years, Olivia Jade has scored sponsorship deals with beauty and fashion companies Too Faced, Tresemme, Smashbox, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Lulus, Boohoo and Dolce & Gabbana beauty, as well as HP Inc. Haircare brand Tresemme told THR on Thursday it will no longer work with Olivia Jade.
— Hollywood Reporter, 3/14/19

Lori Loughlin‘s daughter, Olivia Jade, for the first time in her influencer life … does not want to hear from her fans. The 19-year-old YouTube star has done the unthinkable and disabled the comments section of her videos after users began ripping her over the college bribery scandal. Not only did Olivia Jade disable her YouTube comments, she stopped fans from lashing out on her most recent Instagram posts.
— The Blast, 3/14/19

There’s the customary “being in denial” thing….

According to the source, Bella, 20, and Olivia, 19, “never expected their parents to be charged for any crime, let alone one related to them.” “They’ve always seen themselves as a good, honest family that works hard and follows the rules, but everything has changed overnight,” the source says. “The reality of all of this has been devastating.” ET’s source also claims that the pair are “so painfully embarrassed” that they don’t want to go outside.
— ET Online, 3/14/19

The comeuppance has only just begun.

Two Stanford students filed a $5 million class action suit on Wednesday claiming they were denied opportunities to get admitted to Yale and USC and have now had their degrees devalued in the wake of the recent charges. Meanwhile, a San Francisco parent has filed a separate $500 billion lawsuit claiming her son was not admitted to some colleges because wealthy parents charged in the scandal thought it was ‘OK to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college’.
— Daily Mail (UK), 3/14/19

The case could be made.

UPDATE

The bleeding continues….

Lifestyle vlogger Olivia Jade Giannulli, 19, took on fellow influencer Marissa Rachel and singer Rydel Lynch in a 2016 episode of Tap That Awesome App for a now defunct Verizon mobile phone channel. But when Rachel was declared the winner in front of a live audience she says studio execs mysteriously stepped in and ordered producers to re-shoot the final few questions.

When the trivia contest resumed Rachel and Lynch were under orders not to buzz in with the correct answers, leaving Giannulli to take home first prize, a $5,000 donation to a charity of her choice, it’s alleged.
— Daily Mail, 3/15/19

The word “stupid” is gaining in validity.

UPDATE

Olivia Jade is playing the victim because she (of course) had no idea of what her parents did, never wanted to go to college and her value to society is now dead in the water.

The 19-year-old YouTube vlogger is “really angry with her parents because she told them she did not want to go to college and she was pushed,” the source says.

“She has been passionate about her career and wanted to work and was doing well but that wasn’t enough,” the source continues. “Her parents said she would have to juggle college and her career. Now she’s devastated because everything she built implode before her eyes.”

“She feels they ruined everything,” the source adds.
— Entertainment Tonight, 3/20/19

If things were going so great, why didn’t she simply move out and rough it on her own? That’s right, she’d have to feed herself and pay bills with HER money. That would really suck.

PodWorx, Inc., the parent company of Vegas Video Network, LLC today announced a default judgment in Small Claims court against Rick Singer, host and executive producer of Vegas TV’s Let’s Talk News Now (LTNN).  The suit was brought against Mr. Singer for failure pay for LTNN episodes produced by the company from May through April of this year.  As outlined by the judgment, Mr. Singer is ordered to pay PodWorx, Inc. the maximum amount allowed in a small claims lawsuit ($7500), plus court costs.  (The company no longer produces shows for Mr. Singer.)

** UPDATE **
It has been brought to the attention of this company that Rick Singer is an “aka” for a person named Richard Senninger. We have learned that Mr. Senninger has a long and disturbing history as is highlighted by two websites: Black and Right and Rick the Con Man. We continue to pursue legal action against Mr. Senninger
— Vegas Video Network, 8/3/12

I was unfortunately just alerted to the fact that our favorite scam-artist is back at it again, this time under the name “Rick Singer“ and sticking it to individuals and businesses in Las Vegas (he appears to prefer warm climates).

Here’s some background on the man who changed many lives (for the worse) and for some reason is still walking free, maybe doing it again….

Host Of OTW Arrested In Florida
The Last Dose Of Reality
The Troop Talk Scam
Inside The Wire: Pics Of The Day
An ‘Inside The Wire’ Update
Rick Lester Senninger Resurfaces
Senninger Still Scammin’
Senninger Strikes Yet Again
Rick Senninger… Now ‘Sen-Mar Marketing’

One of his early, successful scams was against veterans and those who supported them.

Some scam artists target rich widows. Some target the elderly. Rick Senninger, former executive producer and founder of the Intel Radio Network and “Outside The Wire”, targeted veterans.

He played up the whole patriotism thing, repeating “Thank you for your service” a few times, and then hit up veterans and their organizations. He regularly interviewed people on his show like retired Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, military wives, homeland security supporters, as well as soldiers presently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a veteran myself, I probably gave him the added credibility to go after a segment of our society respected and admired.

Apparently it required getting a traitor onboard as well…

It appears he found his man.

Rick Senninger finally is getting what he deserves. But he wasn’t alone. He and his partner, Captain Trip Bellard, ran up a tab of nearly $50,000 at our facility doing the Troop Talk show. In the end, Trip Ballard just turned his back on us and walked away after personally promising to help us out. This past fall, Bellard acknowledged taking more than $2,000 out of the Hero Radio Network bank account and promised to send it to us. That hasn’t happened. His shirking of his responsibility and misleading us about his intent, shows how bad character can be contagious. Rick and Trip, another fine example of conservative values being jettisoned when one’s personal comfort and wallet are at stake.

Ray Hays
PRC Digital Media
Jacksonville, Florida

— Bob Parks, 8/22/12

Please feel free to share this post with your friends, visit Rick’s Facebook page, send him a Tweet, and if he owes you money you may wish to call the cops. If you see Rick, tell him I said “hi”.

UPDATE

Vetting appears to again be lacking because, given his history, who in their right mind would give Rick Senninger any access to “financial”?

He’s been raising money for “Breast Cancer research”.

Rick’s now a liberal (he’s always acted like one), working with the Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada.

He’s been contributing enough to be noticed by Democrats.

And now has his fingers in the coffers of the Knights of Columbus.

Given the recent interest on our coverage and the patterns of Mr. Senninger, “vetting” always comes too little, too late.

UPDATE

Whenever we get an uptick in traffic regarding Senninger, it means someone is doing some checking on Rick, again unfortunately after the fact.

It appears Rick is now climbing the Las Vegas social circles.

Didn’t know he was this diverse and like using veterans in his past, he’s now exploiting “pets” and “grief”.

Rick Senninger, a licensed Funeral Arranger and Family Services Counselor is currently the Owner and Operating Manager of 1st Call Pet Cremation LLC, Las Vegas Nevada. “I left the traditional Funeral Home / Cemetery industry to serve the Pet Community in large part because I simply did not like the way Pet Parents were treated. Often Pet Parents are treated in a less than compassionate or professional manner, we are changing that environment. Pet Loss is real and so is the grief.” The corner stone to 1st Call Pet Cremation is service. We are available 24/7/365, to come to your home at the time of a Pet Loss, do the removal and transport to the crematory. Our service includes a clay paw print, an Urn with the cremated remains of the pet and a certificate. All of which is delivered back to the family typically within 10days.

Rick is from Michigan, attended Northwestern Michigan and has been in the Funeral Industry for 9 years. Other distinctions include; Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, Honorary Colonel in Kentucky Colonels, Board of the LGBTQ Stonewall, Financial Secretary for the Knights of Columbus and Member of the Elks Club of Nevada.

However, Rick Senninger also has a dubious, public profile.

Yes, we know.

UPDATE

Sadly more hits to our Senninger posts means more victims of his scams.

Customer says Las Vegas pet cremation company has had dog’s remains for months

Very sad.