Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors urged jurors to listen to the words on FBI recordings in closing arguments Wednesday as the first case in the nationwide college admissions scandal goes to trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frank played portions of calls secretly recorded by the FBI as John Wilson, 62, and Gamal Abdelaziz, 64, face charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and fraud for paying William "Rick" Singer -- the mastermind of the nationwide scheme -- to get their children into prestigious universities.
"I'll make them a sailor or something because of where you live," Singer is heard saying on the 2018 call with Wilson, who is accused of paying $220,000 in 2014 for his son to be admitted to the University of Southern California as a water polo recruit and $1 million in 2018 for his twin daughters to be designated as recruits in sports they did not play for Stanford and Harvard.
Wilson, who founded the real estate investment firm Hyannis Port Capital, can be heard laughing and asking if he could get a "two-for-one special" for the twins.
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Abdelaziz, a former Wynn Resorts executive, allegedly paid Singer $300,000 in 2018 to have his daughter admitted to USC as a basketball recruit despite her not making her high school varsity team.
Singer can be heard on a call telling him that the fake profile was so well done that one of his associates wanted him to reuse it "for anybody who isn't a real basketball player that's a female."
Abdelaziz is heard responding, "I love it."
Attorneys for the two men described them as busy executives who wanted to help their children get into college by making legitimate donations, but were instead duped by Singer who they said hid his illicit practices such as creating fake athletic profiles and donating to corrupt athletic officials.
"John is not part of Singer's con," Michael Kendall, Wilson's lawyer, said. "There is no evidence, not even a hint, that John figured out Singer's scam."
"It's not illegal to do fundraising, not illegal to give money to a school in the hopes that your kid will get in," said Abdelaziz's lawyer, Brian Kelly. "So that's his mindset."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wright asserted that the "case is not about wealthy people donating money to universities in the hope that their children get preferential treatment in the admissions process."
"The defendants are not charged with crimes for having donated money to USC," she said. "If that was all they had done, we would not be here today."
Frank also dismissed the claims that Singer had explicitly used phrases such as "bribery" and "conspiracy" in his communications with the fathers for them to be aware of the wrongdoing.
"They don't use the word 'bribe,' they don't use the word 'fake profile,' because that's not how criminals talk," he said.
The case is the first in the widespread investigation into the scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues to go to trial, as many other parents, including actress Lori Laughlin, opted to plead guilty for their participation in the scheme.
