Massachusetts dad sentenced in college admission scandal for tax fraud

BOSTON (WWLP) – A Lynnfield man was sentenced in the college admissions case for tax fraud in connection with payments to secure his son’s admission to the University of Southern California (USC).

According to the Department of Justice in Boston, in 2013 64-year-old John Wilson agreed to pay William “Rick” Singer of California to secure his son’s admission into USC as an alleged water polo recruit in exchange for $220,000 to the water polo team account. In 2018, Wilson also asked Singer about securing his two daughters admission to college as athletic recruits they did not play.

Wilson was the founder and CEO of a private equity and real estate development firm and a former senior Staples executive. He provided a portion of the payment using his private investment firm’s corporate account with a fake invoice as a business expense and the remainder as a charitable contribution.

Wilson was convicted by a federal jury in October 2021 and was sentenced to one year of probation, with the first six months to be served in home detention, and 250 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $75,000 and restitution in the amount of $88,546.

Singer was sentenced to 42 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, restitution of $10,668,841 to the IRS, and forfeiture of $8.7 million in January.