Photos of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli’s daughters posing on rowing machines in their bid to allegedly sca...
Photos of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli’s daughters posing on rowing machines in their bid to allegedly scam their way into the University of Southern California as athletes have finally been revealed.
Photos showing Olivia Jade, 20, and her sister Isabella, 21, exercising on ERG machines were released to the public on Thursday by federal prosecutors in response to Loughlin and Giannulli's effort to get their bribery case dismissed.
Prosecutors blurred the faces of the two girls, but court papers identify them as the two depicted in the telling photos.
Last year the family became embroiled in the Varsity Blues scandal after it was revealed Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to get their two daughters admitted to the USC on phony athletic credentials.
The photos of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli’s daughters posing on rowing machines in their bid to allegedly bribe their way into the University of Southern California as athletes have finally been revealed. In this image released by prosecutors Olivia Jade appears to be posing on an ERG machine
In this photo released by prosecutors Isabella Giannulli appears to be posing on an ERG machine
Loughlin and her husband are accused of paying $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California as crew recruits. The Hollywood couple claim the payment was a donation to the school, not a bribe. Mom Lori Loughlin pictured with daughters Olivia Jade left and Isabella Giannulli right on red carpet in February 2019
The couple along with 12 others have been charged in the massive college admissions scandal.
Loughlin and Giannulli have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The couple requested a case dismissal after their legal team claimed entrapment by the FBI.
Prosecutors denied those claims in a filing Wednesday and released a trove of evidence including those photos intended to boost the girls' college applications, e-mail exchanges and text messages by Loughlin and Giannulli.
Mossimo Giannulli sent Rick Singer, the mastermind of the college admissions scandal, an email with the photo of Olivia rowing attached to it on September 7, 2016.
Singer had emailed Loughlin and Giannulli in August saying he was creating a coxswain profile for her and requested a picture of her posing as a rowing athlete.
'It would probably help to get a picture with her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete too,' he wrote in the e-mail.
According to prosecutor evidence released Thursday Varsity Blues mastermind Rick Singer e-mailed Mossimo Giannullo on August 18, 2016 saying: 'I need a PDF of her transcript and test scores very soon while I create a coxswain portfolio for her. It would probably help to get a picture with her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete too'
Prosecutor evidence shows Mossimo Giannulli sent Rick Singer, the mastermind of the college admissions scandal, an email with the photo of Olivia rowing attached to it on September 7, 2016
Prosecutors released this e-mail exchange from April 2016 showing Singer e-mail Giannulli saying: 'If you want SC I have the game plan ready to go into motion. Call met o discuss'
Giannulli sent another e-mail to Singer on July 28, 2017 with a picture of Isabella rowing, and Loughlin was cc’d on that e-mail.
However, neither Olivia Jade or Isabella were ever on their high school or extracurricular crew teams.
Prosecutors also pointed out that Loughlin and Giannulli paid $200,000 to Singer’s foundation, which they claim was the fee for his scamming services.
The receipt for that payment was included in the evidence released.
In April 2017 Giannulli forwarded an e-mail confirming his donation to the Key Worldwide Foundation - the group Singer ran as the front of his college admission operation - and wrote: 'Good news my daughter is in SC...bad is I had to work the system.'
However, the Hollywood couple have claimed that those checks were donations to both parties, not bribes to get their daughters into the prestigious school.
But evidence including e-mail exchanges and text message point towards the fact that the couple - and their kids - knew what was at play.
In this e-mail Mossimo Giannulli forwarded an e-mail confirming his donation to the Key Worldwide Foundation - the group run by Singer as the front of his college admission operation. Giannulli forwarded it to a friend and wrote: 'Good news my daughter is in SC...bad is I had to work the system'
This shows two $50,000 checks sent to USC's Athletic director Donna Heinel in November 2016 and December 2017
This e-mail exchange between Singer and Giannulli show how Singer had directed the fashion designer to send a check to USC athletics director Donna Heinel
The USC acceptance letter for one of the daughters pictured above
Prosecutors revealed text messages between Giannulli and a friend who appeared to tell him about Singer and his services from January 2019.
When the friend asked if Giannulli told his daughter about the scheme, he admitted he did, meaning Olivia Jade and Isabella were likely in the know on the alleged bribery.
'We don’t have a lot of secrete here. She has been an integral part of all discussion. Start to finish,' Giannulli said, to the outrage of his friend.
In March Loughlin, Giannulli and other defendants filed a motion to dismiss the charges alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
They claimed that government mishandled and withheld evidence – specifically notes from Singer's phone and recordings speaking with defendants and his complaints that the government was pressuring him to call the payments bribes.
This is the invoice for the $200,000 payment Loughlin and her husband paid to the Key Worldwide Foundation run by Singer in January 2019
Prosecutors revealed text messages between Giannulli and a friend who appeared to tell him about Singer and his services from January 2019. When the friend asked if Giannulli told his daughter about the scheme, he admitted he did, saying: 'We don’t have a lot of secrete here. She has been an integral part of all discussion. Start to finish'
Those notes were not given to the defense until February.
In response prosecutors acknowledged they should have turned over their notes on Rick Singer’s interactions with clients earlier but say it was 'simply a mistake'.
They claim that Singer’s notes don’t exonerate the couple and they had alleged criminal intent long before Singer turned into a government informant.
Loughlin and Giannulli are scheduled to go to trial in October alongside six other parents.
Nearly two dozen parents have already pleaded guilty to charges that they paid bribes to cheat on college entrance exams or by having their children pose as fake athletic recruits.
Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman was sentenced to two weeks in prison for paying $15,000 to have someone correct her daughter’s SAT answers.
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