Two parents are set to go on trial in the 'Operation Varsity Blues' scheme, which involved wealthy parents paying large sums of money to get their kids admitted into elite universities.
John B. Wilson, 62, and Gamal Aziz, 64, will appear before a jury in the US District Court in Boston Wednesday, two-and-a-half years after the scheme was exposed as a national college admissions scandal.
They are among the 57 parents charged over the scheme but 46, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin made plea deals.
Wilson, who is the founder of Hyannis Port Capital, is accused paying more than $1.7 million to California college admissions consultant William 'Rick' Singer - the criminal mastermind behind the entire scheme.
John B. Wilson, 62, and Gamal Aziz, 64, will appear before a jury in the US District Court in Boston Wednesday, two-and-a-half years after the scheme was exposed as a national college admissions scandal.
Both Wilson and Aziz paid California college admissions consultant William 'Rick' Singer large sums of money to get their children fraudulently admitted into the University of Southern California as athletic recruits
He has been charged with filing a false tax return, money laundering conspiracy, and federal programs bribery in relation to the scandal, which came to light in March 2019 following a widespread FBI investigation.
Between 2014 and 2018, Wilson allegedly paid Singer to fraudulently procure admission for his three children to attend the University of Southern California, Stanford, and Harvard universities as athletic recruits.
Wilson, however, has pleaded not guilty to his charges, saying his three children were admitted to the elite colleges on their own merit.
Aziz, the former CEO of Wynn Macau Limited and MGM Resorts International, is accused of shelling out $300,000 to Singer in 2018 in an attempt to get his daughter fraudulently admitted to USC as a basketball recruit.
According to prosecutors, both parents allegedly conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, in addition to committing bribery related to federally funded programs with Singer.
