When the FBI announced March 12 it had busted a college admission cheat ring scam by Newport Beach, Calif.-based Paul Rick Singers “Edge College & Career Network,” it shocked the nation. Caught in the sting were 50 well-heeled individuals including Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman, Full House actress Laurie Loughlin and many other prominent people. Singer plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston March 12 for conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering, bank and wire fraud, etc., paying a $1.25 million fine, potentially spending six years in federal prison. Of all the high-profile individuals found guilty of in Singer’s scam, International Law Firm former Co-Chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher Gordon Caplan was the most egregious, watching his career crater. Caplan claims his daughter had no clue she was dragged into the scam.
Caplan paid Singer $75,000 to fabricate his daughter’s learning disability, then alter her ACT score from a score in the low 20s to 32. “I take full and sole responsibility for my conduct and I am deeply ashamed of my behavior and my actions,” said Caplan, hard-pressed to explain how he could have made this mistake. By the time someone gravitates to co-chairman of an international law firm, you’d think professional ethics on which reputations are based would have prevailed. But life in the fast lane of high stakes college admissions, parents are willing to do almost anything to assure admission for their kids into the nation’s elite colleges. Singer’s scam bribed admissions directors and athletic coaches at some of the nation’s most elite universities, including Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, Berkeley, University of Southern California, etc. Rich parents paid Singer up to $2.5 million.
Singer’s firm made over $25 million in five years, making it one of the most lucrative college admission firms in the country. How many other admission-scam firms exist in the country is anyone’s guess. While the FBI nailed Singer’s firm, it’s doubtful he’s the only one in the arcane world of elite college admissions. Caplan, whose daughter is a junior, who’s not yet applied to colleges, wanted to absolve her of any responsibility. “I want to make clear that my daughter, whom I love more than anything, in the world, is a high school junior and has not yet applied to college, much less been accepted to any school.” Elite college admission offices dealing with Singer’s clients are scouring files to reject applications or expel students already enrolled. Caplan wanted to make clear that his daughter had no knowledge of the crimes committed by her father and other parents trying to game the system.
No one knows for sure how much the applicants knew about their parent’s scam with Singer’s company. Caplan claims his daughter knew nothing. But there’s plenty of cases where the applicants were far more apprised of what was happening, including marketing themselves, with Singer’s help, as elite college athletes to gain admission to elite colleges. “She had no knowledge whatsoever about my actions, has been devastated to learn what I did and has been hurt by most of it,” Caplan admitted. How much of Caplan’s public testimony is sincere is anyone’s guess. Paying Singer $75,000 to fix his daughter’s ACT score, Caplan proved that there’s no lie too great for the former co-chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Faced with fines and possible jail time, Caplan now singing mea culpa, something that didn’t occur to him the day he cut a $75,000 check to Singer.
When you consider the complex web of admissions counselors, coaches and test takers Singer created, it showed the multi-layered treachery to his scam that ran from sea-to-shining sea, East-to-West coast. However much federal prosecutors want to throw the book at Singer’s clients, it’s unlikely they’ll do any time. Prosecutors know that no matter how egregious the cheating scandal, there’s no violence perpetrated on the public. If Cook County prosecutors dropped all charges against Empire actor Jussie Smolett for staging a hate crime and filing a false police report, there’s hope for Singer’s clients to avoid jail time. Federal prosecutors are well-aware of the highly competitive nature of college admissions, where everyone’s angling for a leg up. Singer offered well-heeled clients the opportunity to buy their children’s way into elite colleges by gaming the college admissions process.
When Caplan decided to scam the system contracting with Singer, he knew what he was doing. Facing disbarment in New York and Connecticut, Caplan showed he wasn’t worthy of holding a law license. Now that he’s pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, wire and bank fraud, mail fraud and host of other felonies, Caplan wants to insulate his daughter from his actions. “My immediate goals is to focus on making amends for my actions to try to win back the trust and respect of my daughter, my family and my community,” Caplan said, hoping to show enough public contrition to issue a suspended sentence. “The remorse and shame that I feel is more than I can convey,” Caplan told the press, hoping federal prosecutors go easy on him. But when a bar-licensed attorney commits multiple felonies, it’s not the time to discuss mitigating circumstances or light sentences.
