Gordon Caplan, the co-chairman of the international law firm based in New York City Willkie Farr & Gallagher, has been placed on a leave of absence, the firm said in a statement.
Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP said Caplan will have no further firm management responsibilities in the wake of allegations against him with regards to the college admissions case.
The allegations: Authorities allege Caplan, 52, made a purported charitable donation of $75,000 to the Key Worldwide Foundation in exchange for Rick Singer — the architect of the scam — arranging for Mark Riddell to proctor his daughters ACT exam and correct answers after she had completed it.
Singer, in a call with Caplan, explained a particular need for his daughter “to be stupid” when a psychologist evaluated her for her learning disabilities in order to obtain necessary documentation to obtain extended time on the exam.
In a different call, Singer suggests that Caplan hire a member of his staff to take online classes for her in order to improve her grades. It’s not clear if this was done.
At another point, Caplan inquired with regards to changing the location of the test to the West Hollywood Test Center and asked whether anyone had “ever gotten in trouble with this?”
Caplan at various points asks if there have been any issues in the past.
Caplan and Singer discuss what score Caplan would like his daughter to get on the exam.
The court paperwork documents wire transfers Caplan made to a Boston bank account in the name of KWF which, unbeknownst to Caplan, Singer opened at the direction of law enforcement.
CNN has reached out to several people at Willkie Farr and Gordon himself and has not heard back.
According to authorities Caplan has made his initial appearance in District of Connecticut and was released on $500,000 bond.
One of his attorneys, Peter Cane, declined to comment by phone Wednesday.
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