The Varsity Blues Tapes: Hear Rick Singer Talk About College Admissions Scandal

Mr. Wilson and Mr. Abdelaziz pleaded not guilty to fraud and bribery-conspiracy charges; Mr Wilson also denies the charges of aiding fraud and bribery and filing a false tax return. Their lawyers claim they were duped by Mr. Singer and believed they were making legitimate donations.

They were recorded with the authority of a wiretap and, later, with the permission of Mr. Singer after he began to cooperate with the government. To date, 47 people have pleaded guilty or have agreed to do so. In addition to MM. Wilson and Abdelaziz, six more are set to stand trial later this year and early 2022.

Some of the recorded conversations focus on the two main illicit opportunities offered by Mr Singer, as he presented them to potential clients or reviewed his actions with those who were already using his services. In the bribery program, he paid coaches or their programs to admit the children of his clients as recruited athletes, regardless of the ability of the teens. In the testing program, he asked families to have adolescents assessed for learning disabilities so that they could have more time for college entrance exams. He then sent them to testing sites where a corrupt supervisor rigged their scores.

Now, rather than reading the transcripts, you can hear the conversations and, most notably, how the parents identified in each segment below engage with Mr. Singer.

Gordon caplan

In the summer of 2018, Mr Singer contacted attorney Gordon Caplan through Scott Treably, a former tennis coach who has advised student-athletes on college admissions, according to people familiar with the investigation. They discussed the possibility of using his testing program to help increase the chances of admission to a large school for Mr. Caplan’s daughter, Rachel, who he said was a very strong tennis player but not the best ranked.

The exchange started with a failed joke about Gordon Gekko from the movie “Wall Street,” then turned to business as Mr. Singer explained why Mr. Caplan’s daughter wasn’t doing anything too unusual by getting a time extended for university admissions. test.

Mr. Caplan pleaded guilty to a fraudulent conspiracy and was sentenced to one month in prison, one year on probation, community service and a fine.

John wilson

In a conversation on September 15, 2018, Mr. Singer explained to client John Wilson the benefits of paying for his twin daughters to be identified as athletes recruited in the admissions process.

Mr Singer summed up the advantage athletes have over other contestants, beyond what children of donors or heirs might expect, while Mr Wilson intervened with a few questions.

In a phone call on October 27, 2018, Mr Singer told Mr Wilson that he had secured a place for a girl as a sailor through John Vandemoer, the Stanford sailing coach. (Mr Vandemoer pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and was fired by the university.) He relayed the good news to his client.

Mr Wilson has pleaded not guilty to fraud, bribery and false tax filing charges, and is currently on trial.

Defense attorneys have claimed that Mr Singer made the plan look flawless and deliberately misled their clients. Addressing the tapes regarding his client, Mr Wilson’s attorney said Mr Singer had not used words like “bribe” or “fake profile”.

Bruce isackson

During a phone call on October 24, 2018, Mr. Singer spoke with client Bruce Isackson about their arrangement to land his daughters Audrey and Lauren at UCLA and USC, respectively, in recent years. As part of his cooperation with federal agents, Mr Singer told Mr Isackson a bogus story, saying he had to review the scheme because his foundation was being vetted and there might be questions about Mr. Isackson’s payments. Former federal prosecutors say the IRS cover story often works because the threat of an audit causes people to panic and discuss how they will deal with the federal government.

Mr. Isackson has pleaded guilty to charges, including fraudulent conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, and has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities; he has not yet been convicted.

Gamal Abdelaziz

A common question about the program, and why it didn’t collapse sooner, was why schools didn’t notice that their recruited student-athletes often didn’t join the teams they were admitted to. Mr Singer suggested families tell an injury story if anyone is suspicious of the student’s absence from a team.

There is no indication that USC asked about Mr. Abdelaziz’s daughter after she started school there, but in January 2019, under the direction of law enforcement officials, Mr Singer told the father that such inquiries had been made about Sabrina.

Mr. Abdelaziz has pleaded not guilty to the counts of fraud-conspiracy and corruption-conspiracy and is currently on trial. His lawyers said Mr Singer lied about where the money was going and that their client was unaware of the fake sports profile submitted for his daughter.

Mr Wilson’s attorney said that Mr Wilson’s son was a legitimate water polo player, that any embellishment on his resume was the work of Mr Singer and that Mr Wilson also believed he was made a standard gift.

A prosecutor said evidence shows the forged profiles were “sent and received in email accounts that the defendants actually used.”

Write to Melissa Korn at [email protected] and Jennifer Levitz at [email protected]