Federal prosecutors in Boston on Tuesday charged 50 people, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, in the largest college admissions cheating scam ever prosecuted in the United States.

Authorities say the operation, dubbed Varsity Blues, uncovered 33 parents described by US Attorney Andrew Lelling as a "catalog of wealth and privilege" who collectively paid $25 million to a college admissions counselor named William Singer, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in an investigation into what Lelling called the "widening corruption of elite college admissions."

In exchange for the money, Singer allegedly bribed college officials, coaches and college entrance exam administrators, who then helped students secure admissions "not on their merits but through fraud," Lelling said.

Singer pleaded guilty in Boston to racketeering conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Officials say 13 people were arrested by the FBI in Los Angeles and that 38 of the 50 defendants charged are under arrest and in custody. Seven are working towards surrender, while one in Hawaii is actively being pursued. Huffman was arrested at her home, while Loughlin is in Canada and is not yet in custody. Authorities have been in contact with her, and she is reportedly aware there is a warrant for her arrest upon her return to the U.S.

In some cases, authorities say Singer arranged for a student to take the SAT individually with a proctor he had bribed in Texas or California. In other cases, Singer allegedly bribed coaches to establish fake credentials designating students as recruited athletes even when those students did not play the sport in question.

In one instance highlighted by federal prosecutors, it is alleged that the head women's soccer coach at Yale was paid $400,000 to accept a student even though the applicant did not play soccer. The parents of that student had allegedly paid Singer $1.2 million.

The coaches worked at such schools as Stanford, Georgetown, Wake Forest, the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. The former Yale coach pleaded guilty and helped build the case against others.

"Today's arrest should be a warning to others," the FBI's Joseph Bonavolonta said. "You can't pay to play. You can't cheat to get ahead, because you will get caught."

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