Lori Loughlin's fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli checks himself into luxury hotel amid college admissions scandal
- Lawyers for parents indicted in college admissions scandal say their clients paid money to universities, which they considered a charitable donation
- Parents thought the cash was going to athletic programs, lawyers will argue
- In March, 50 people, including Full House star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, were indicted
- They are alleged to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their children into universities by having them designated as athletic recruits
- Ali Khosroshahin, the former women's soccer coach at the University of Southern California, pleaded guilty on Monday to accepting bribes
He is embroiled in a massive college admissions scandal involving his wife Lori Loughlin and their two daughters.
So it comes as no surprise that Mossimo Giannulli was in need of some rest and relaxation.
The 56-year-old fashion designer was seen checking into a luxury hotel in Los Angeles amid his family's crucial court case.
Rest and relaxation: Mossimo Giannulli was seen checking into a luxury hotel in Los Angeles amid his family's crucial court case
Regardless of the tense time, Mossimo seemed to be laid back as he sported a striped polo and white jeans.
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He donned slide sandals with a skull design on them as he accessorized with a white leather belt and black leather band watch.
Mossimo seemed to be ready for a day on the golf course as he carried along a hat and pair of golf shoes as he joined a similarly dressed pal.
Out and about: Regardless of the tense time, the 56-year-old fashion designer seemed to be laid back as he sported a striped polo and white jeans
The outing comes just days after it was revealed that the attorneys for parents indicted in the college admissions bribery scandal will argue that the money they paid to various universities was not an attempt to bribe their children's way into college, but that their clients simply believed they were making charitable donations.
The parents who have pleaded not guilty, among them Full House star Lori Loughlin, plan to fight charges of fraud conspiracy and money-laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Lawyers representing a number of the parents who pleaded not guilty revealed their legal strategy in Boston, where the case is being tried in federal court, according to NBC News.
In March, federal authorities arrested 50 people, including Mossimo and his Full House star wife Lori Loughlin (right) in the college admissions scandal
The couple is alleged to have paid money to get their daughters Olivia Jade (left) and Isabella (right) admitted to the University of Southern California. They have pleaded not guilty
‘If the money went to a school, it’s not a bribe,’ said Martin Weinberg, an attorney who represents Canadian businessman David Sidoo.
‘Many of the clients would contend that if payments were made to a charity or sports organization, that it is not a bribe.’
Sidoo, a Vancouver business man, philanthropist, and former professional football player in the Canadian Football League, allegedly paid $200,000 to have a test-taker pretend to be his sons and take the SATs.
Sidoo, Loughlin, her husband Mossimo Giannulli, and Desperate Housewives actor Felicity Huffman are among 50 people who were charged in March with participating in a vast scheme in which wealthy parents conspired with William ‘Rick’ Singer to use bribery and other forms of fraud to secure the admission of their children to top universities.
Huffman, unlike Loughlin and others, pleaded guilty. In total, 13 of the 33 parents who have been charged have struck plea deals with federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that Loughlin, 54, and Giannulli agreed with Singer to pay $500,000 to have their two daughters named as recruits to University of Southern California’s crew team, even though they did not row competitively, to help them gain admission.
Loughlin and Giannulli provided Singer photographs of their daughters in order to create fake athletic profiles for them, which a USC athletics official in exchange for bribes then used to support recruiting them, prosecutors said.
Among those indicted are Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez (left) and David Sidoo (right). Lawyers representing them are expected to argue that they paid money to athletic departments of universities, which count as charities and thus can't be considered a bribe
Huffman and the 12 others are due to be sentenced later this year.
Two of the defendants who have decided to fight the charges are Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez.
Manuel Henriquez, the CEO of a Silicon Valley venture capital lender, and his wife are alleged to have paid more than $1million in order to get their daughter, Isabelle, admitted into Georgetown University as a tennis recruit.
Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who has also been indicted for accepting bribes, allegedly received $950,000 from the Henriquezes in return for designating Isabelle as a tennis player.
The couple’s lawyer, Aaron Katz, said that they ‘did not know that it was a bribe’ when they paid the money.
‘It’s a question of whether Singer told the parents that the money was going to athletic programs rather than the pockets of the coaches,’ Katz said.
‘If other parents were told that, then it is part of our argument that the parents did not know that it was a bribe.’
Katz said he has spoken with ‘many, if not all the defendants’ and they are expected to make similar arguments in court.
In court, however, a federal prosecutor dismissed this line of defense.
‘It doesn’t matter if the money went to the coach's program or the coach directly,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen told Judge M. Paige Kelly of the United States District Court in Massachusetts.
Ali Khosroshahin, the former head coach of the women’s soccer team at USC, agreed to plead guilty on Monday to charges that he falsely designated the children of wealthy parents as recruits
‘A bribe is simply a quid pro quo, it doesn’t matter where the money went.’
One of the defendants who initially pleaded not guilty has now decided to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Ali Khosroshahin, the former head coach of the women’s soccer team at USC, agreed to plead guilty on Monday to charges that he falsely designated the children of wealthy parents as recruits.
In exchange, he helped gain their admission to the Los Angeles-based university, according to USA Today.
According to prosecutors, Khosroshahin, who coached women’s soccer at USC from 2007 to 2013, and his former assistant, Laura Janke, received $350,000 in bribes from Singer.
In return, they falsely designated four recruits as soccer players, according to the indictment.
The money was directed to a private soccer team controlled by Khosroshahin.
Janke pleaded guilty last month to similar charges. She is alleged to have helped Loughlin’s daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, get into USC.
