Ex-TPG Leader McGlashan Denies Using ‘Side Door’ in College Scam

(Bloomberg) -- William McGlashan, fired by private equity giant TPG after being charged in a sweeping college admissions cheating scandal, has begun to sketch out his defense strategy.

In a court filing Wednesday seeking permission to accompany his family on a long-scheduled trip abroad next month, McGlashan’s lawyers took direct aim at a central claim in the government’s case -- that McGlashan discussed a $200,000 bribe to a college athletic director to get his son into the University of Southern California.

“Mr. McGlashan did not pay for the use of a so-called ‘side door’ to obtain admission for his son at USC or any other college,” his lawyers said in the filing, in which McGlashan seeks the return of his passport.

McGlashan, who was managing partner of TPG Growth, was among 33 parents charged by the U.S. in what it called the biggest college admissions scam it has ever prosecuted, a plot that reached from entrance test administrators to college sports coaches. Some parents are accused of paying bribes to win admission to elite universities including Yale, Stanford, the University of California at Los Angeles and Georgetown. None of the schools or students have been charged.

Separately on Wednesday, Jon Winkelried, co-chief executive officer of TPG, said at the Bloomberg Equality Summit 2019 that the firm was shocked over the charge against McGlashan and has undertaken an internal investigation to see if his activities bled into the business.

McGlashan led TPG’s business focused on social good and founded its growth investing platform. The firm has given investors a chance to withdraw their commitments from the second social impact pool following the indictments, Bloomberg has reported. The TPG fund, known as The Rise Fund II LP, is still aiming to close this year with $3 billion.

In a note to board members, McGlashan said he had resigned and that he was “deeply sorry this very difficult situation may interfere with the work to which I have devoted my life.” He added that “there are aspects of the story that have yet to emerge that I wish I could share.”

The U.S. says parents either made payoffs to test-takers to help students cheat on the entrance exams or bought off coaches to designate the applicants as athletic recruits. Prosecutors say McGlashan did both.

He’s accused of conspiring with college admissions counselor William Rick Singer to pay $50,000 in December 2017 for a proctor to correct the ACT answers of his eldest son, who’d taken the exam the day before. He also bribed Donna Heinel, the former senior associate athletic director of USC, to get his son admitted as a recruited athlete, prosecutors said.

He is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest-services mail fraud, punishable under the statute by as long as 20 years in prison. Under federal sentencing guidelines, lawyers say, most of the parents are unlikely to serve much if any time in jail.

Strong Legs

The government says its evidence against McGlashan includes a conversation in which he discusses creating a fake football profile for his son, according to a transcript from a court-authorized wiretap.

“You don’t have to tell him a thing,” Singer, the leader of the scam, allegedly told McGlashan, referring to his son.

Singer is quoted in court papers as telling McGlashan he would use Photoshop to create a fake profile of the boy as a football kicker to submit to USC. His high school team didn’t even have a football team, prosecutors said.

‘‘Perfect,” McGlashan responded, according to prosecutors. “He does have really strong legs.”

McGlashan’s son got a score of 34 out of 36, which was also submitted to Northeastern University, prosecutors said. Heinel, who is also charged, has denied wrongdoing.

Secret Tips

In July 2018, Singer and McGlashan discussed repeating the scheme for his two younger children, the U.S. said. Singer has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities, but is accused of trying to tip off McGlashan and other clients about the government’s then-secret probe.

In arguing that McGlashan won’t flee, his lawyers said on Wednesday that he is in a “different” position from other parents ensnared in the government’s case. They argue his son has legitimate learning disabilities that allowed him extra time to take specially proctored exams. Further, McGlashan’s son withdrew his applications to college and hasn’t even graduated from high school, according to defense lawyers.

“There is no allegation that Mr. McGlashan’s son ever attended a university based on any of the alleged conduct,” attorney Jack Pirozzolo wrote.

The case is U.S. v. Abbott, 19-mj- 6087, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

--With assistance from Heather Perlberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net;Janelle Lawrence in Boston at jlawrence62@bloomberg.net;Janet Lorin in New York at jlorin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.