Former private equity exec to plead guilty in college admissions scandal

A former private equity executive will plead guilty to federal charges in the college admissions scandal and is expected to be sentenced 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 exam scores secretly corrected, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement.

McGlashan was among dozens of parents charged in March 2019 following the FBI’s “Operation Varsity Blues” investigation.

The scheme involved wealthy parents who paid to have their children’s college exam scores boosted or to have them fraudulently admitted as student-athletes, or both in some cases.

McGlashan, of Mill Valley, Calif., paid the scheme’s mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, who then bribed a test administrator to have a proctor secretly change the student’s ACT exam answers, prosecutors said.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; aiding and abetting, according to court documents.

A plea deal calls for a three-month prison term and a $250,000 fine. It must still be accepted by a court. Attorneys for McGlashan declined to comment.

A criminal complaint contains statements that the son had no idea about the scheme. The proctor, Mark Riddell, corrected the answers after the student took the exam in late 2017, the complaint says. The son re-took the exam after the indictments were announced, according to court documents filed by McGlashan’s attorneys.

Singer, Riddell and the test administrator, Igor Dvorskiy, have all pleaded guilty.

A date for the plea has not been set. McGlashan will be the 30th parent to plead guilty to charges stemming from the overall scheme, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Among those who have pleaded guilty and been sentenced are actor Felicity Huffman, known for “Desperate Housewives” and other roles; “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli; and Michelle Janavs, heiress to the Hot Pockets fortune.