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Former Harvard Coach, Dad Charged in Latest Admission Scheme

VOA News

   A former Harvard University fencing coach and a Maryland businessman
   have been arrested and charged with conspiring to circumvent the
   school's admissions process, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in
   Boston.

   Peter Brand, 67, a former Harvard fencing coach who was fired in 2019,
   is alleged to have taken more than $1.5 million in bribes to get the
   sons of Maryland businessman Jie "Jack" Zhao, 61, into Harvard by
   recruiting them to the school's fencing team.

   In 2013, Zhao, who runs a telecommunications company, allegedly donated
   more than $1 million to a fencing charity run by Brand. That same year,
   one of Zhao's sons was accepted to Harvard.

   The second son gained admission in 2017.

   "In total, Zhao made $1.5 million in payments to Brand, or for Brand's
   personal benefit, even as Brand recruited Zhao's younger son to the
   Harvard fencing team," according to a news release from the U.S.
   Attorney's Office.

   "Zhao allegedly paid for Brand's car, made college tuition payments for
   Brand's son, paid the mortgage on Brand's Needham, Massachusetts,
   residence, and later purchased the residence for well above its market
   value, thus allowing Brand to purchase a more expensive residence in
   Cambridge that Zhao then paid to renovate," the news release stated.

   "This case is part of our long-standing effort to expose and deter
   corruption in college admissions," said U.S. Attorney Andrew E.
   Lelling. "Millions of teenagers strive for college admission every
   year. We will do our part to make that playing field as level as we
   possibly can."

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