A forensic accountant for the government testified this week that William “Rick” Singer, the mastermind of a college admissions scheme recruiting unqualified wealthy students for varsity teams at their dream universities, made nearly $28 million.
In her testimony, Lauren George revealed that Singer’s bank accounts indicated he made “substantial profits” from wealthy parents. He allegedly invested some of his money in a football club in Wales and a chain of West Mexican restaurants.
“The vast majority came from the parents, about $26 million by the parents,” she said, as quoted by Nation World News. She further stated that Singer paid approximately $7 million to various varsity sports foundations, school officials, teams, and coaches allegedly involved in the scheme.
The auditor also revealed that the bank accounts of Singer’s admissions counseling businesses registered deposits of more than $43 million and made withdrawals totaling $34 million between 2013 and 2019.
Singer pleaded guilty to the charges and promised to cooperate with authorities to convict others involved in the scheme. He also forfeited $3.4 million and several investments as part of the plea agreement.
Growing Number of People Involved
Earlier this month, a former tennis coach at Georgetown University admitted receiving more than $2 million in bribes from Singer to help children of wealthy parents get admitted to the institution through its athletics program.
Gordon Ernst has forfeited nearly $3.44 million he earned from the scheme, and prosecutors say he could serve no more than four years in prison for the crimes.
Former media company chief executive Elisabeth Kimmel has also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud after reportedly agreeing to pay a total of $275,000 to Singer for her daughter’s admission to Georgetown.
According to her plea agreement, she will be sentenced to six weeks in prison and two years of supervised release, with the first year under house arrest.
