Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are set to claim that the monies they sent to USC were donations and not bribes to get their daughters into the school.
The couple and their law team feel they have evidence that backs up their contention.
For instance, one check sent to former USC Senior Associate Athletic Director Donna Heinel is made out to the university, not to any particular person, TMZ reported.
The second check in contention was made out to one of Rick Singer’s charities, not to Singer or any school official.
The defense will also say that, to the couple’s knowledge, neither check could be said to have directly benefited Singer or any of the other school officials accused in the case.
Federal prosecutors say that Heinel received large payments from Singer, but the first installment of those payments came months after Loughlin supplied her checks, meaning an argument can be made that whatever Singer did with the money later, that distribution came long after Loughlin and Giannulli wrote the checks. Therefore, the couple can’t be responsible for what happened to the cash.
Moreover, it appears that both of the couple’s daughters were accepted to the school before Heinel received any money.
The couple is also set to argue that there were no victims in the crime. No one was directly harmed, even if the money was a bribe, they maintain.
Regardless the U.S. Attorney is set to argue that the payments the couple made amount to an illegal bribe.
The trial for the school admissions bribery case does not yet have a firm date but it is likely it will begin sometime this year.
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