‘varsity blues’ indeed
2 accused parents target another cooperating with feds
On the second day of testimony in the “Operation Varsity Blues” college admissions trial, lawyers for two parents accused of bribing the mastermind of the scheme took aim at another parent who already pleaded guilty.
California businessman Bruce Isackson testified under cross-examination in federal court in Boston that he was not aware of anything illegal the two accused parents — John Wilson, 62, of Lynnfield, and Gamal Abdelaziz, 64, of Las Vegas — had done.
Isackson said he pleaded guilty in 2019 in the hope that his sentence would be reduced. He admitted to paying $600,000 to get his son and his two daughters into their schools of choice.
“You’d pretty much do anything to stay out of prison,” said Brian Kelly, one of the lawyers for Abdelaziz, a former Wynn Resorts executive.
Rick Singer, who is cooperating with the government and is the mastermind behind the scheme, siphoned off the money he was paid to people who could help increase the ACT exam score of one of Isackson’s daughters and get his two daughters into UCLA and USC as athletic recruits, even though they had no interest in the sports their applications said they played.
“This is a man who had threatened you and your wife before he came to your house, is that right?” Kelly asked.
“Yes,” Isackson said. Kelly said Isackson faced at least 37 months in prison for conspiracy related to taxes, money laundering and honest services, and hoped to reduce his sentence by cooperating with the government’s case against Abdelaziz.
“The truth is you had no idea who Gamal Abdelaziz was, right?”
“Yes,” Isackson said. Abdelaziz allegedly paid Singer $300,000 to get his daughter into USC as a fake basketball recruit.
Wilson, founder of Hyannis Port Capital, allegedly paid Singer at least $1.7 million to get his three children into Harvard, Stanford and USC, like Isackson’s children as fake athletic recruits.
Both men’s attorneys said they believed they were doing nothing wrong.
Under cross-examination by Wilson’s attorney, Andrew Tomback, Isackson admitted he was a tax evader.
And, Tomback said, “Your daughters could not get into the universities they were applying to.” “Correct,” Isackson said. “You committed crimes with Mr. Singer,” Tomback said.
“Correct,” Isackson said. Thirty-three other parents have pleaded guilty, including television actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, since arrests happened nearly 2 K years ago. The parents have so far received punishments ranging from probation to nine months in prison.
Wilson and Abdelaziz are the first to face a jury in a case that has embroiled 50 other parents, athletic coaches and others. It all exposes the extent to which some parents of means will go to get their children into elite universities across the country.
Defense attorneys even attempted to block how often their clients could be referred to as wealthy, saying it could unduly influence the jury.