Netflix doc on college admissions scandal to feature Conn. lawyer
GREENWICH — A new Netflix documentary, “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal,” will feature wire tapped conversations involving Gordon Caplan, of Greenwich, who was implicated in the scandal.
The documentary, the trailer for which was released Monday, stars Mathew Modine as mastermind college consultant William Rick Singer, who offered wealthy parents a “side door” into college for their children by bribing admissions officials and altering test scores.
At least 53 people have been charged as part of the conspiracy, including Caplan, who served a 30-day sentence in prison and was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and complete 250 hours of community service.
In the trailer, Caplan can briefly be seen exiting the U.S. District Court in Boston, where he was sentenced. The documentary will be released March 17 and features reenactments of conversations uncovered by the FBI wire taps.
The story drew swarms of media coverage because it exposed inequities in
college admissions and implicated a long list of uber-wealthy parents. Actresses Lori Loughlin, of “Full House,” and Felicity Huffman, of “Desperate Housewives,” were famously ensnared in the scandal.
And Caplan was not the only Connecticut connection.
Yale University also caught heat after it was discovered a former women’s soccer coach, Rudolph “Rudy” Meredith, was accused of accepting bribes to designate applicants as athletic recruits. Meredith ultimately pleaded guilty.
It was also reported that the parents of Sherry Guo had paid the university $1.2 million to help secure their daughter’s admission into the prestigious New Haven university.
Caplan, meanwhile, was implicated for having his daughter’s ACT score fixed, a service for which he allegedly paid Singer $75,000. He arrested in 2019 and pleaded guilty shortly after to honest services mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud
Phone calls between Caplan and Singer were taped between June and
December 2018. Caplan allegedly worked out a scheme in which his daughter would be tested by a psychologist who would conclude she had learning differences and needed extra time to complete the exam.
According to the conversations, Caplan told Singer he was “not worried about the moral issue” but “if she’s caught doing that, you know, she’s finished.”
As a result of the scandal, Caplan, a high-powered New York attorney, faced disbarment, but instead was recently given a two-year suspension by a New York state appeals court. He was former cochairman of New Yorkbased Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher, but the firm split with Caplan in the wake of his arrest.
“I failed my daughter, I failed my wife, I failed my son, my parents, my colleagues, my friends and I failed the profession that I loved so much and worked in my whole life,” he was reported saying during sentencing.