LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two Nevadans, Gamal Abdelaziz, and Elisabeth Kimmel have been charged in the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Justice Department, according to federal officials.
Prosecutors say Elisabeth Kimmel conspired to use bribery to get her daughter accepted into Georgetown as a tennis recruit, and then her son years later to USC as a track recruit.
Witnesses told investigators they were not qualified athletes.
On July 26, 2018, Kimmel and her spouse told a concealed witness over the phone that their son’s advisor at USC started asking questions about her son being on the track team.
According to the criminal complaint, her son called Kimmel confused statement read in part that he: “believed this to be a mistake because he was unaware that he had been admitted to USC as a recruited athlete.”
Gamal Abdelaziz’s last known address was inside a gated community near Hualapai and Alta.
He’s a senior executive of a resort casino operator.
Investigators say Abdelaziz conspired to bribe an athletic director at USC, to make his daughter a recruit for to the USC basketball team.
In exchange, Abdelaziz would make payments to the tune of $20,000 per month in exchange for her acceptance into the school.
Investigators say the process getting her in the door was complex, and that “Abdelaziz provided information for a falsified basketball “profile” which included exaggerated and altogether fabricated basketball credentials - to submit to USC on his daughter’s behalf.”
On a phone call dated January 3rd, 2018, the cooperating witness told Abdelaziz if anyone asked why she wasn’t playing he was instructed to say she had suffered an injury and agreed to go along with that story.
Abdelaziz and Kimmel are among 50 parents, sports coaches and college prep executives accused in the federal indictment, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Prosecutors say parents paid "enormous sums" to guarantee their children's admission.
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The indictment alleges that a third party took the ACT and SAT college entrance exams in place of students. In some cases, students had fake athletic profiles to make them appear to be successful athletes.
13 Action News reached out to Kimmel and Abdelaziz but didn’t immediately get a response. Also, no word if either have hired attorneys.
