A former private equity executive will plead guilty to federal charges in the college admissions scandal and is expected to face up to three months in prison, prosecutors said Friday.
William E. McGlashan, Jr. (57), a former senior executive at TPG Capital, paid $ 50,000 to have his son’s ACT exams secretly corrected, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said in a statement.
McGlashan was one of dozens of parents charged in March 2019, following the FBI’s ‘Operation Varsity Blues’ investigation.
The scheme covers wealthy parents who have paid to increase their children’s college examination rates, or in some cases to have them fraudulently admitted as student-athletes.
McGlashan, of Mill Valley, California, paid the mastermind of the scheme, William “Rick” Singer, who then bribed a test administrator to have a lawyer secretly change the student’s ACT answers, prosecutors said.
He agreed to plead guilty to a single case of wire fraud and fraud with honest services; help, according to court documents.
A plea deal calls for a three-month prison sentence and a $ 250,000 fine. It still has to be accepted by a court. Lawyers for McGlashan declined to comment.
A criminal charge contains statements that the boy had no idea about the scheme. Attorney Mark Riddell corrected the answers after the student took the exam at the end of 2017, the complaint reads. According to the court documents filed by McGlashan’s attorneys, the boy took the exam again after the charges were announced.
Singer Riddell and Test administrator Igor Dvorskiy have all pleaded guilty.
A date for the plea has not been set. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said McGlashan is the 30th parent to plead guilty to charges under the overall scheme.
Among those who have pleaded guilty and been convicted is actor Felicity Huffman, best known for ‘Desperate Housewives’ and other roles; “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer, Mossimo Giannulli; and Michelle Janavs, heir to the Hot Pockets fortune.
