Business executives out after being charged in college admissions scams

Caplan, 52, from Greenwich Connecticut, was placed on indefinite leave, by Willkie Farr, according to reports. The New York-based law firm has 700 lawyers in 10 offices in six countries. Caplan has reportedly paid $ 75,000 to get his daughter's test points changed. He was released on Tuesday at a $ 500,000 bond.

"I'm not worried about the moral problem here," Caplan said during a phone call quoted in the charge. "I'm worried that – if she's taken it, you know she's done."

The University of Southern California has also reported obtaining two athletic department employees ̵[ads1]1; senior assistant athletic director Donna Heinel and water polo coach Jovan Vavic – allegedly taking bribes of $ 1.3 million and $ 250,000, respectively, to help children come into athletic recruits.

Other businesses were charged, among others, by Agustin Huneeus, head of Huneeu's vineyard in Napa Valley, California; Douglas Hodge, former CEO of Pimco; and Robert Zangrillo, CEO of Dragon Global, an investment company whose website says it managed more than $ 1 billion in companies that have over $ 500 billion in market value today. Companies did not immediately respond to CNBC comment requests.

William Singer, CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, identified as head of fraud, blamed four charges on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors said his business helped parents bribe college coaches to take their children without athletic background and to help change student responses to SAT and ACT exams.

Prosecutors said Henriquez and his wife paid $ 400,000 in bribes to get their daughter to Georgetown and hire a collaborative witness to help her second daughter with her standardized exam. The couple also claimed that Georgetown's head tennis trainer would designate his daughter as an athletic recruitment. They were each issued on a $ 500,000 bond.