Michelle Janavs

Janavs, a Newport resident, former executive in her family’s food manufacturing business and USC graduate, is accused of using bribery to get her two daughters into preferred schools. According to the federal complaint, Janavs paid $100,000 for Singer to help a daughter cheat on her ACT in 2017 and get into USC as a purported beach volleyball player. Earlier this year, prosecutors allege, she paid $50,000 for another daughter to cheat on the exam. Janavs’ family fortune comes from Chef America Inc., which was founded by her father, Paul Merage, and his brother David, who developed the Hot Pocket line of frozen calzone-style snacks. Chef America was sold to Nestle in 2002 for $2.6 billion. The Merage family name also is attached to the Merage Jewish Community Center in Irvine and the business school at UC Irvine.