‘A Sailor Or Something’
Prosecutors said that after Wilson first paid Singer $200,000 to get his son into USC as a phony water polo recruit in 2013, he returned in 2018, paying Singer $1 million for his twin daughters. Wilson also was charged with filing a false tax return claiming the first payment as both a business expense and a charitable donation.
A USC water polo coach testified that Wilson’s son came to the first day of practice and never returned. Prosecutors played a September 2018 wiretap in which Wilson asks Singer if he can get a “two-for-one special” for his daughters and laughs when Singer says “I’ll make them a sailor or something” because Wilson’s family lives on Cape Cod.
As for the basketball skills of Abdelaziz’s daughter, a former classmate testified that she wasn’t good enough to make her high school varsity team. Singer can be heard on an October 2018 wiretap claiming he wants to take advantage of the same faked profile he used for the young woman for “anybody who isn’t a real basketball player.” Abdelaziz chuckles and replies, “I love it.” His daughter never played at USC, saying she was injured, according to the U.S.
Four more parents are due to go on trial next year. One father was pardoned by former president Donald Trump.
The case is U.S. v. Colburn et al., 19-cr-10080, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.