A man once implicated in the “Varsity Blues” scandal will have to shore up the remaining two causes of action in his lawsuit against USC for the case to proceed, a judge has ruled.
Massachusetts businessman John Wilson and his wife, Leslie Q. Wilson, sued the university last Sept. 20, seeking the return of a $100,000 donation he made in connection with their son Johnny’s admission, plus $75 million to compensate them for alleged fraud and deceit by the university.
On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie dismissed the couple’s cause of action for negligent misrepresentation and said they will have to shore up their other two claims for fraud and intentional misrepresentation.
“In short, the complaint in its current form is devoid of any allegations that would support a finding that plaintiffs made a reasonable inquiry as to the truthfulness of the representations allegedly made to them by USC after 2014,” the judge wrote regarding the fraud and intentional misrepresentation allegations. She gave the couple 30 days to file an amended complaint.
Fujie said the negligent misrepresentation claim violated the statute of limitations.
In their court papers, USC attorneys stated that the entire case should have been dismissed.
“Putting aside the audaciously fictitious nature of the complaint, every single one of the claims against USC fails…,” according to the university attorney’s pleadings.
The Varsity Blues scandal was allegedly led by William “Rick” Singer by operating a college admissions consulting company and a fraudulent charity, then working with upscale families to get their children into top schools, in part through the manipulation of SAT and ACT score results.
In their court papers, the Wilsons’ attorneys allege that key USC figures, including head water polo coach Jovan Vavic, Assistant Athletic Director Alex Garfio and Associate Athletic Director Ron Orr, assured the Wilsons that their donation was legitimate and conformed to university policies.
But in their court papers, USC attorneys allege that in 2014, John Wilson conspired with Singer and Vavic to convince USC’s admission office into admitting John Wilson’s son “by falsely representing Johnny’s athletic ability.”
A jury convicted John Wilson in 2021 of filing a false tax return, bribery and fraud. He appealed and an appellate court dismissed all but the tax conviction finding that prosecutors had not proven an overarching conspiracy and identified significant evidentiary issues during the trial.
The Wilsons actually thought they donated $220,000.00 to USC but $120,000.00 was embezzled by Singer, the Wilsons’ lawyers allege in their pleadings.
John Wilson is a former executive at Gap and Staples.