By Patricia Hurtado | Bloomberg

The jury in the first trial of parents swept up in the college admissions scandal will hear secret recordings of admitted mastermind William “Rick” Singer talking with them about the alleged scheme rather than hearing from him live, a federal prosecutor told the panel.

“The government does not intend to call Singer at this trial, but you will hear his voice in recording after recording and see his words in emails,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Wright said during opening arguments in federal court in Boston on Monday. “This trial is about the parents, what John Wilson and Gamal Abdelaziz, what they knew, what they intended and what they agreed to do. You will hear from these defendants when they did not know anyone was listening.”

Private equity investor John B. Wilson and former Wynn Resorts Ltd. executive Gamal Abdelaziz are among a half dozen parents still fighting the charges, with the other four scheduled to go on trial next year, after 33 others pleaded guilty.

Wright told jurors the case was about “lies” and “not about wealthy people donating money to universities with the hope that their children get preferential treatment in the admissions process.” She said both parents engaged in “a sprawling conspiracy that extended from coast to coast,” adding, “None of these kids were getting recruited to play collegiate sports without the money.”

The Varsity Blues sting, as the government called it, exploded into public view in 2019 with the announcement of charges against dozens of parents across the country, in what the Justice Department says is the biggest college admissions fraud it has ever prosecuted. The U.S. alleged the parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Singer to get their kids into top universities through manipulation of entrance exam scores or bribes to college athletic coaches.

Singer pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, secretly recording conversations with his wealthy and powerful clients. The 33 who pleaded guilty, from fields including entertainment and finance, got jail sentences ranging from two weeks for “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman to nine months for former Pacific Investment Management Co. chief Douglas Hodge. Wilson and Abdelaziz face as many as 20 years in prison if convicted, though federal sentencing guidelines could reduce such a term considerably.

Wilson, the 62-year-old founder of private equity and real estate development firm Hyannis Port Capital, allegedly paid $200,000 to Singer to bribe a University of Southern California water polo coach in 2014 to designate his son as a recruit for the school’s team. He’s also charged with later paying Singer more than $1 million to secure spots at Stanford and Harvard universities for his twin daughters as purported athletic recruits.

Abdelaziz, 64, is accused of paying Singer $300,000 and tens of thousands more to a USC athletic official to win admission for his daughter as a purported basketball recruit. Abdelaziz argues his daughter was a talented basketball player and that USC said $200,000 would go to a school arena for basketball and volleyball.

None of the colleges or applicants in the case were charged.

A panel of 12 jurors and four alternates for the trial was selected last week.

“We did excuse one of your colleagues for personal reasons, so we’re going forward with 15 jurors instead of 16,” U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton told the panel on Monday ahead of the openings.

The case is U.S. v. Colburn et al., 19-cr-10080, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.