- Mehdi Belhassan, 53, of Tampa, was sentenced to prison for stealing tuition money from hundreds of families planning to send their children to sports camps.
- Mr. Belhassan falsely claimed that he would run MB Sports Camps at Boston-area universities beginning in the fall of 2018.
- Mr. Belhassan was convicted in October 2023 on two counts of wire fraud and was also sentenced to two years of supervised release.
A Florida man convicted of stealing tuition money from hundreds of families who were planning to send their children to sports camps in 2019 and spending the money on plastic surgery, vacations and gambling was sentenced Tuesday. was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Mehdi Belhassan, 53, of Tampa, was found guilty in October 2023 on two counts of wire fraud.
He was also sentenced Tuesday to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $575,427 in restitution and forfeit $443,346.
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According to prosecutors, starting in the fall of 2018, Belhassan falsely claimed to run annual MB Sports Camps at Boston-area universities.
Despite the fact that the city told Mr. Belhassan that he could not open a camp anywhere in Boston because he did not have the proper permits, Mr. Belhassan continued to promote the camp and opened more than 300 camps across the United States. Funds were raised from family members. (Fox News)
Even though the city told Belhassan that he could not open a camp anywhere in Boston because he did not have the proper permits, Belhassan continued to promote the camp and opened a camp in 300 homes across the United States. Investigators said the funds were collected from these sources.
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Prosecutors said Belhassan also used fraudulent contracts with the university that included forged signatures from administrators to defraud financial companies to finance the non-existent camp.
He used the funds to fly to Las Vegas, where he gambled and spent money on entertainment and hotels, prosecutors said.
