Ex-TPG Capital executive to plead guilty in college admissions scandal

[NEW YORK] Former TPG Capital LP senior executive Bill McGlashan agreed to plead guilty in the US college admissions scandal that had ensnared dozens of high-profile parents.

Mr McGlashan, 57, will plead guilty to wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, according to a statement Friday from the US attorney's office in Boston. He had professed his innocence since he was charged in 2019 and his trial was scheduled to begin later this year. A plea hearing hasn't yet been set.

Mr McGlashan will be the 30th parent to plead guilty in the college admissions case, according to the statement. Under the terms of his plea deal, Mr McGlashan faces three months in prison and a fine of US$250,000.

John Hueston, an attorney for Mr McGlashan, declined to comment on the plea deal.

Other parents that have chosen to plead guilty rather than go to trial include "Full House" star Lori Loughlin and Doug Hodge, the former head of Pacific Investment Management Co.

The so-called "Varsity Blues" investigation has spurred a public outcry over the ways wealthy parents can rig the ultra-competitive college admissions process in their kids' favour.

Prosecutors claimed Mr McGlashan, who previously led TPG's business focused on social good and founded its growth investing platform, paid ringleader Rick Singer US$50,000 to arrange for someone to secretly correct his son's ACT exam answers and discussed paying US$250,000 to get his son into the University of Southern California as a fake football recruit, though didn't go through with that part of the plot.

Mr McGlashan has said that he didn't pay Mr Singer a single cent in connection with the "sidedoor" scheme, where college officials in athletic departments were bribed to accept otherwise unqualified students. He said that made him unique among those charged.

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