BOSTON (KNX) — A former Las Vegas casino executive has been sentenced to one year in prison for paying a $300,000 bribe to get his daughter admitted to the University of Southern California. It’s the most severe penalty handed down thus far in the Varsity Blue college admissions scandal.
Gamal Abdelaziz, 64, of Las Vegas, paid the bribe to secure his daughter’s admission to USC as a basketball recruit. She had not played basketball in more than a year at the time she applied to USC and reportedly did not make it onto her high school’s varsity team.
Prosecutors alleged Abdelaziz agreed to pay co-conspirator William “Rick” Singer the $300,000 to arrange admission for his daughter. Singer then allegedly created a basketball profile for Abdelaziz’s daughter, which included a photo of a different athlete and a list of awards and athletic honors she never received.
Another co-conspirator working in USC’s athletic department used that falsified profile to secure admission for Abdelaziz’s daughter.
Abdelaziz then wired the $300,000 to Singer’s phony charity — Key Worldwide Foundation.
Abdelaziz was sentenced in federal court in Massachusetts to one year and one day in prison plus two years of supervised release, 400 hours of community service, and a fine of $250,000. He was convicted in October following a four-week jury trial on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.
Singer pleaded guilty for his part in the scheme and is awaiting sentencing.
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