As College Admissions Trial Begins, Parents Claim They Were Duped

BOSTON — During opening statements connected Monday, the defence lawyers for Gamal Abdelaziz and John Wilson made wide that their clients — the archetypal parents to look proceedings successful the sprawling assemblage admissions ungraded — would not beryllium the lone ones up for judgment.

The defence lawyers portrayed the men arsenic the victims of William Singer, known arsenic Rick, who they accidental presented himself arsenic a talented admissions consultant, but who really gulled the fathers into reasoning they were making morganatic donations to assistance their children get into the University of Southern California.

And the defence lawyers besides formed a jaundiced oculus connected the assemblage admissions process, which they suggested was unfastened to manipulation and wealth done their diversion programs.

“He thought Singer was legitimate,” Brian T. Kelly, the lawyer for Mr. Abdelaziz, said successful his opening connection successful Boston national court. “He had nary inkling that Singer was a skilled con man.”

The prosecution, however, said the parents were consenting accomplices successful a strategy that Leslie Wright, an adjunct U.S. attorney, called “fraud” and “bribery.”

Mr. Singer told the parents that they could bypass the regular admissions process by presenting their children arsenic diversion recruits, and helium falsified oregon embellished their credentials truthful they could bash that, the authoritative said. Mr. Abdelaziz’s girl was promoted arsenic a hoops player, and Mr. Wilson’s lad was presented arsenic a h2o polo recruit, adjacent though neither kid was really bully capable to play astatine the university.

Mr. Wilson wanted his duplicate daughters to spell to Harvard oregon Stanford. They were bully students but “he did not privation to instrumentality immoderate chances,” Ms. Wright said successful her opening statement. “He wanted to marque definite they got in. He wanted a guarantee.”

Mr. Singer, who by past was cooperating with the government, told Mr. Wilson that his duplicate daughters could airs arsenic sailors due to the fact that helium had a location successful Hyannis Port, Mass., the authoritative said, and that helium would put for Harvard and Stanford to enlistee them successful speech for donations of $1.5 million.

“It’s a done deal,” Mr. Singer told Mr. Wilson.

Ms. Wright told the assemblage that the athletics section had the powerfulness to enlistee precocious schoolhouse athletes and superstars who would spell connected to play nonrecreational sports. But the strategy Mr. Singer concocted was a perversion of the authoritative process, she said, facilitated by corrupt insiders portion the admissions officers were successful the dark.

“What these 2 defendants did was criminal,” Ms. Wright said. “They participated successful a strategy to person their children admitted to assemblage arsenic fake diversion recruits successful speech for money. That’s fraud. It is besides a signifier of bribery.”

She added: “The parents did not travel up with the scheme. That was Rick Singer. But without them, it ne'er would person happened.”

She besides cautioned that the lawsuit was not astir thing the children had done.

The national investigation, known arsenic Operation Varsity Blues, has snared much than 50 parents, coaches, exam administrators and others successful an admissions strategy that implicated diversion coaches from colleges including Yale, Stanford, U.S.C., Wake Forest and Georgetown. The authorities said those arrested were portion of a conspiracy that facilitated cheating connected assemblage entranceway exams and the admittance of students arsenic trumped-up diversion recruits.

Over the past 2 and a fractional years, 33 parents — including the actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, and Ms. Loughlin’s husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a manner decorator — person pleaded guilty, receiving sentences up to 9 months successful prison. Three much parents are scheduled to spell connected proceedings successful January, and 1 successful April.

In opening statements, the defence lawyers admitted that their clients had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr. Singer, but said they did not cognize that helium was fabricating oregon embellishing diversion credentials for their children.

The authorities said connected Monday that it did not mean to enactment Mr. Singer, who has pleaded blameworthy to racketeering, connected the witnesser stand, but that the assemblage would perceive his words connected portion and successful emails. The defence foreshadowed that it would effort to amusement that Mr. Singer had been coerced by the authorities into coating immoderate parents arsenic criminals adjacent though helium did not truly judge they were.

The defence lawyers tried to crook their affluent clients into radical the assemblage could subordinate to. Mr. Kelly pointed retired Mr. Abdelaziz’s wife, who was sitting successful the audience. (Almost everyone successful the courtroom wore masks.)

Mr. Wilson, who runs a backstage equity firm, ne'er knew his biologic father, according to his lawyer, Michael Kendall, and his parent raised him successful a lodging task aft she became large with him arsenic a teenager. Inspired by his ain conflict increasing up, Mr. Wilson had made a signifier of donating millions of dollars to acquisition causes, Mr. Kendall said.

Mr. Singer cultivated a idiosyncratic narration with the Wilson family, Mr. Kendall said. “For 3 years, helium regularly came to the Wilson house,” giving his lad proposal connected tutors, penning coaches and sports, Mr. Kendall said. Mr. Singer knew that Mr. Wilson, whom his lawyer described arsenic “the kid from the projects,” would beryllium “generous and would spot his advice.”

Prosecutors accidental that Mr. Wilson paid $220,000 to person his son, Johnny, designated arsenic a h2o polo recruit. He was admitted to U.S.C. but “redshirted” from the start, meaning that helium was 1 of respective players who did not get to play, Mr. Wilson’s lawyer said successful his opening statement. He near the squad aft 1 semester.

Mr. Abdelaziz, a erstwhile casino executive, had antecedently hired Mr. Singer for a $5,000 interest — much emblematic of admissions consultants — to manager his son, Adam, connected getting into college, Mr. Kelly said. After Adam was admitted to Columbia, the university’s improvement bureau reached retired to Mr. Abdelaziz for a donation, and helium gave $200,000, Mr. Kelly said.

So it seemed normal, Mr. Kelly said, erstwhile Mr. Singer suggested that a donation would facilitate the admittance of his girl Sabrina to U.S.C. arsenic a competitory hoops player.

“That’s what these backstage schools do,” Mr. Kelly said. “It’s not amerciable to bash fund-raising, not amerciable to springiness wealth to a schoolhouse successful the hopes that your kid volition get in.”

Mr. Singer primitively asked for $200,000 and past different $100,000. Mr. Kelly said that unbeknown to Mr. Abdelaziz, nary of it went to U.S.C.

Prosecutors person said that Sabrina did not adjacent marque the chopped for her precocious schoolhouse varsity team.

In court, Mr. Kelly introduced a portion of Mr. Singer speaking astatine an event. “My extremity contiguous is to thatch you what goes connected down closed doors,” Mr. Singer could beryllium heard saying connected the tape. “If you truly privation to triumph astatine this game, you person to beryllium a portion of this game.”

But the prosecutor, Ms. Wright, suggested that if this was a game, Mr. Singer — aided by a web of corrupt insiders — was not playing by the rules.

“Here’s what the admissions section astatine these schools did not know, what the insiders did not archer them,” Ms. Wright told the jury. “These were not existent recruits. They were ne'er going to play.”