Two wealthy dads convicted in first U.S. college admissions scandal
trial
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[October 09, 2021]
By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) - Two wealthy fathers who
were the first to face trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal were
convicted on Friday of charges that they corruptly tried to buy their
children's way into elite universities as phony athletic recruits.
A federal jury in Boston found former casino executive Gamal Aziz and
private equity firm founder John Wilson guilty on all charges they faced
in a case centered on a vast, nationwide fraud and bribery scheme that
involved many other parents.
The verdict followed 10-1/2 hours of jury deliberations and four weeks
of trial in a case that exposed inequalities in higher education and the
lengths wealthy parents would go to secure spots for their children at
top schools.
The two are among 57 people charged over a scheme in which wealthy
parents conspired with California college admissions consultant William
"Rick" Singer to fraudulently secure college placement for their
children through fraud and bribery.
Singer pleaded guilty in 2019 to facilitating cheating on college
entrance exams and funneling money from the parents to corrupt coaches
and athletics officials in order to secure the admission of their
children as fake athletes.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Oct/09/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_SFARM_2021.png)
Prosecutors alleged that Aziz - a former Wynn Resorts Ltd executive also
known as Gamal Abdelaziz - in 2018 paid $300,000 to secure his
daughter's admission to the University of Southern California (USC) as a
basketball recruit.
Prosecutors said Wilson, who founded Hyannis Port Capital, paid $220,000
in 2014 to have his son falsely designated a USC water polo recruit and
later in 2018 paid another $1 million to try to secure spots for his
twin daughters at Stanford and Harvard universities.
"What they did was an affront to hard-working students and parents,"
Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Mendell said. "But the verdict today
proves that even these defendants, powerful and privileged people, are
not above the law."
Aziz, 64, and Wilson, 62, sat emotionless as the verdict was read out
loud finding them both guilty of conspiring to commit mail fraud and
wire fraud and conspiring to commit federal programs bribery.
Wilson also was convicted on six other fraud, bribery and tax counts.
They face the prospect of years in prison when they are sentenced in
February, though the longest sentence any parent has received in the
scandal so far was nine months.
Both men are expected to appeal. Their lawyers contended they too were
conned by Singer, who they said kept them in the dark about his scheme's
mechanics and led them to believe their money was being used for
university donations, not bribes.
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![](../images/100921pics/news_c37.jpg)
Private equity firm founder John Wilson, charged with participating
in a scheme to pay bribes to fraudulently secure the admission of
his children to top schools, arrives at federal court for the first
day of jury selection in the first trial to result from the U.S.
college admissions scandal, which has resulted in dozens of
celebrities, executives and coaches facing criminal charges, in
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., September 8, 2021. REUTERS/Brian
Snyder/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
"It's obviously not the result he was looking for,
but that's our system, and that's why they have appellate courts,"
said Brian Kelly, Aziz's lawyer. "So that's what we'll be doing
next."
'DOESN'T MATTER' WHAT SPORT
The trial hinged in large part on recordings investigators secretly
obtained of the two parents with Singer, who became the chief
cooperating witness in the "Operation Varsity Blues" investigation.
The probe ensnared executives and celebrities including actresses
Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, who were among 47 defendants who
agreed to plead guilty. Former President Donald Trump pardoned one
parent.
Prosecutors did not call Singer to testify, instead relying on his
recorded calls with parents.
In a call prosecutors played for the jury, Singer told Wilson that
it "doesn’t matter" what sport they were paired with and that he
would "make them a sailor or something."
Wilson laughed and responded: "Is there a two for one special? If
you got twins?"
In both parents' cases, prosecutors said Singer and others working
with him created athletic profiles used in the admissions process
that included made up information about their children.
Laura Janke, a former USC soccer coach who has admitted taking
bribes from Singer, testified that he later paid her after she left
the school to create a profile for Aziz's daughter that falsified
her height, team position and accolades.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Oct/09/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png)
More trials are expected, with another one set for November.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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