The Varsity Blues Trial: What We Learned About College Admissions



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The government says it did this by bribing coaches and others who worked with it, at universities like USC, Stanford, Yale and Georgetown, and it’s hard to believe businessmen sophisticated ones like Mr. Wilson and Mr. Abdelaziz didn’t realize that. Mr Wilson wrote off his payments as business expenses and charitable contributions, prosecutors said.

Some of the money actually went to college athletic programs, like the Wilson family’s $ 100,000, according to prosecutors. Other payments went into the pockets of those involved, prosecutors said.

The jury must rule on the charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud and, in Mr. Wilson’s case, filing a false tax return. Wilson’s attorney said Wednesday that “taxes are complicated – people make mistakes all the time on a tax return”.

Mr Abdelaziz is accused of paying Mr Singer $ 300,000 to have his daughter, Sabrina, join USC as a top basketball rookie, even though she was not part of the college team in high school. Mr Wilson is accused of paying Mr Singer $ 220,000 to have his son named as a USC water polo rookie in 2013 and then returned to Mr Singer in September 2018 to prosecute the admission of his twin daughters to Harvard and Stanford.

Mr Singer told Mr Wilson, who owned a house in Hyannis Port, Mass., “I’m going to make a sailor out of it or something, because of where you live,” according to a recording released. before the tribunal.

“How did the accused react? Mr. Frank said in his closing statement. “He laughed, then he asked if he could get a two-for-one special.”

The exchange was intercepted during a court-authorized wiretap, and neither man knew the government was listening, Frank said. The FBI approached Mr. Singer about a week later.

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