By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) – A former University of Southern California soccer coach choked up on Monday as she testified in the first trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal that in exchange for money, she helped wealthy parents’ children get into schools as fake athletic recruits.

A Boston federal jury heard Laura Janke tell them that the children she mentioned included Gamal Aziz’s daughter. Wilson, a private equity founder and ex-casino executive is also on trial.

William Singer, the mastermind of the fraud scheme, claimed that Janke helped Aziz get his daughter, as well as other children, such as Lori Loughlin’s daughter, into sports recruiting, regardless of their ability.

Janke explained that Janke had “basically devalued sport and the dedication it takes for athletes”

Singer was one of the 47 people charged in this scandal. Singer pleaded guilty to 2019 using exam cheating and bribery to get university spots for his client’s children. Loughlin also admitted guilt.

Prosecutors claim that Aziz (NASDAQ:) Ltd ex-executive also known as Gamal Abdullaziz and Wilson (Hyannis Port Capital founder) paid Singer for their admissions to USC to be sports recruits. Both deny any wrongdoing.

Janke, who was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, claimed she worked as an assistant soccer coach at USC. Singer-backed children were recruited for her $50,000 per student.

Janke claimed that initially the money went to the soccer programs, and then was split among the coaches.

Janke stated Singer had paid Janke in 2015 to help create athletic profiles that were used for admissions purposes. The profile included information made up about prospective applicants at schools like Stanford, Yale, USC and Yale.

Janke stated that the profiles contained one profile for Aziz’s child, in which she falsified Aziz’s height and team position as well as her accolades.

Janke stated, “I needed to make them believable so that you could claim they would have an impact on our team without raising any red flags.”