Two wealthy parents found guilty in first ‘Varsity Blues’ US college admissions scandal trial
- They are among dozens, including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, accused of bribery to try to get their children into elite American universities
- Thirty-three of the parents have pleaded guilty, with prison sentences ranging from two weeks to nine months
Two parents accused of cheating to get their children into elite US universities were found guilty of all charges, in the first trial stemming from a national college admissions scandal that ensnared dozens of families.
Former Wynn Resorts executive Gamal Abdelaziz, 64, was convicted on Friday of two counts of conspiracy by a Boston jury after prosecutors alleged he paid US$300,000 in bribes to get his daughter into the University of Southern California as a purported basketball player.
Private equity investor John B. Wilson, 62, was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and filing a false tax return after prosecutors alleged he paid more than US$1.2 million in bribes to get his son into the University of Southern California and his twin daughters into Stanford and Harvard as star athletes.
After a three-week trial, the jury deliberated for about 11 hours before rendering the verdict. Abdelaziz and Wilson will be sentenced in mid-February. For both men, the most serious charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
The verdict is a victory for prosecutors who charged 57 parents, coaches and others for taking part in the alleged scheme, which involved doctoring entrance exam scores, faking athletic prowess and bribery to gain seats at universities.
An FBI sting unveiled in March 2019 swept up several prominent figures, including Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman and former Pimco chief executive Douglas Hodge. The case unfolded as the nation debated questions of privilege and inequality.
Thirty-three of the parents have pleaded guilty, with prison sentences ranging from two weeks to nine months.
Former US attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling, who oversaw the case, said he hoped the dozens of jail sentences would deter would-be scammers. He acknowledged it would not change what he said was parents’ unhealthy obsession with colleges as brands.
Felicity Huffman released early from one of ‘10 cushiest prisons’ in US
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that both Abdelaziz and Wilson had worked with college counsellor William “Rick” Singer, the admitted mastermind of the scheme.
The US said both paid Singer to guarantee a “bulletproof” way of getting their children into elite colleges. Prosecutors called 14 witnesses and showed jurors scores of emails they said was proof both men knew and understood Singer’s plan.
Confronted by federal agents in September 2018, Singer agreed to cooperate and secretly record parents for the government. He pleaded guilty in 2019 and awaits sentencing.
Coaches from Yale, Georgetown and the University of California at Los Angeles, as well as USC and Stanford, were also charged in the scheme. None of the students was charged, and prosecutors have called the schools victims of the fraud.
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‘Hard work’ (and US$6.5 million) gets you into Stanford
The government never called Singer, who proved a problematic cooperator. He kept some of the money parents paid him, tipped some off about the investigation and erased about 1,500 text messages from his mobile phone. He made notes saying federal agents wanted him to “bend the truth” when drawing the parents out and “retrieve answers that are not accurate”.
Lawyers for both defendants assailed Singer as a con man who duped them into believing their funds were legitimate donations going to schools or sports facilities.
Prosecutors said that after Wilson first paid Singer US$200,000 to get his son into USC as a phoney water polo recruit in 2013, he returned in 2018, paying Singer US$1 million for his twin daughters. Wilson also was charged with filing a false tax return claiming the first payment as both a business expense and a charitable donation.
A USC water polo coach testified that Wilson’s son came to the first day of practice and never returned. Prosecutors played a September 2018 wiretap in which Wilson asks Singer if he can get a “two-for-one special” for his daughters and laughs when Singer says “I’ll make them a sailor or something” because Wilson’s family lives on Cape Cod.
Rick Singer faked college students’ CVs. He seems to have faked his own too
As for the basketball skills of Abdelaziz’s daughter, a former classmate testified that she was not good enough to make her high school varsity team. Singer can be heard on an October 2018 wiretap claiming he wants to take advantage of the same faked profile he used for the young woman for “anybody who isn’t a real basketball player”.
Abdelaziz chuckles and replies, “I love it.”
His daughter never played at USC, saying she was injured.
Four more parents are due to go on trial next year. One father was pardoned by former president Donald Trump.
