In 2016, Mr. Zhao bought Mr. Brand’s house in Needham, Mass., for $989,500, more than $440,000 above its assessed value. His brother has fenced sparingly as a substitute. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe, via Associated Press. The U.S. Attorney’s office said the scandal involved falsifying standardized test scores and falsely admitting students as athletic recruits. David W. Chen contributed reporting from New York. Altogether, the payments to the fencing coach amounted to $1.5 million, prosecutors said. — When Jie Zhao, a wealthy Maryland businessman, wanted to get his two sons into Harvard, federal prosecutors said on Monday, he made connections with the school’s longtime fencing coach, Peter Brand, who was having financial trouble. Mr. Zhao’s older son graduated from Harvard in 2018, and his younger son is a senior. Brand rejected that idea because he wanted to personally benefit. (The Boston Globe), Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud (New York Times), I'm a reporter at Forbes and the author of What Next? Former Harvard fencing coach arrested over college admissions Prosecutors did not name the co-conspirator, who lives in Virginia, but said he had provided information to the government in the hope of receiving immunity. The report led Harvard to launch an independent investigation into the sale of Brand’s home and the Ivy League university fired him in July 2019. (RELATED: Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli Sentenced In College Admissions Scandal) : Your Five-Year Plan for Life After College published by Simon & Schuster. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) ⦠© 2021 Forbes Media LLC. U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said in a statement Monday that his office will continue its effort to “expose and deter corruption in college admissions.” In March 2019, the office announced that 50 people were arrested and charged for their involvement in the college admissions scheme which implicated elite schools, including Georgetown, Yale and Stanford. Prosecutors said a wealthy Maryland businessman, who was also charged, bribed the coach to help get his sons admitted to Harvard. Brand after a series of articles in The Boston Globe brought to light the strange circumstances surrounding Mr. Zhao’s purchase of Mr. Brand’s house. Brand recruited Mr. Zhao’s sons to the Harvard fencing team, helping to secure their admission. Peter Brand, a former Harvard fencing coach, and Jie Zhao, the chief executive of a telecommunications company, are facing conspiracy charges after Zhao allegedly spent over $1.5 million to bribe Brand in order to ensure that his two sons were admitted to Harvard, ABC News reported. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. msn back to msn ⦠Mr. Zhao’s first proposal was to make a contribution to Harvard’s fencing team, prosectors said the co-conspirator told them, but Mr. Jie âJackâ Zhao, 61, of Potomac, Md., conspired with the longtime coach, Peter Brand, over several years to get his two sons into Harvard as fencing recruits, according to federal officials. A former Harvard University fencing coach and the chief executive of a telecommunications company were arrested on Monday on charges they engaged in a bribery scheme aimed at securing the admission of the businessman's two sons to the Ivy League school. Paul J. Finnegan Family Head Coach for Harvard Nordic Skiing (617) 384-9491 (617) 384-9491: [email protected]: Scott MacPherson: The Peter H. Carter '69 Head Coach for Harvard Alpine Skiing (617) 495-3183 (617) 495-3183: [email protected]: Cameron Ciccone: Assistant Coach (Alpine) The inflated price prompted an on-site inspection from the city assessor, who wrote in his notes that the sale “makes no sense,” prosecutors said. Brand were arrested and charged with bribery. December 9, 2020. He looks forward to the truth coming out in court.”, Mr. Zhao’s lawyer, William D. Weinreb, called the Zhao brothers “academic stars in high school and internationally competitive fencers who obtained admission to Harvard on their own merit,” adding, “Mr. Brand directly, including paying for his car, his son’s tuition at Penn State, and his sewer and water bill. All recruited athletes at Harvard are vetted by the full admissions committee, which has roughly 40 members. He paid off the mortgage on Mr. Brand’s house in a Boston suburb, and eventually purchased the house for an inflated price. However, recruited athletes are far more likely to be admitted than nonathletes with similar academic records. Prosecutors say Zhao, the CEO of a telecommunications company, made payments to Brand totaling $1.5 million, including college tuition for Brand’s son, paying his home mortgage, purchasing Brand’s home above market value and renovating his new, more expensive home. Brand. On Monday, Mr. Zhao, the chief executive of a telecommunications company, and Mr. A former Harvard fencing coach was arrested and charged with bribery on Monday for allegedly accepting $1.5 million from a businessman in exchange for recruiting his two sons to the fencing ⦠Harvard Universityâs former head fencing coach was charged Monday along with a parent in an alleged $1.5 million bribery scheme to get the businessmanâs sons into the school as fencing recruits. After that, prosecutors said, Mr. Zhao began finding ways to benefit Mr. Brand did not report the payments to Harvard when he recruited the sons, according to the prosecutors. But the co-conspirator, who ran the foundation, kept most of the money, prosecutors said — including more than $31,000 that he spent on his own son’s Harvard tuition. Eric Zhao was a co-captain of the Harvard team and was named second-team All-Ivy. The schoolâs former fencing coach Peter Brand has been charged in a bribery scheme. A former Harvard fencing coach and a Maryland businessman were indicted on charges the coach took $1.5M in bribes to help the businessman's sons get into the Ivy League school as fencers. Harvardâs former fencing coach was busted Monday for allegedly accepting more than $1.5 million in bribes from a telecom mogul to get the businessmanâs two sons into the prestigious university. 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Zhao’s attorney, William Weinreb, told Forbes Zhao’s children were accepted to Harvard because of their academic and athletic skills, they both fenced on the Division One level at Harvard and that Zhao denies the charges. Brand bought a more expensive residence in Cambridge, Mr. Zhao paid to renovate it. I have a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and live in New York City. A group tours Harvard in 2012. Jim Davis/Globe Staff Prosecutors allege that in 2012 Brand told an unnamed co-conspirator to tell Zhao he would only need a “good incentive” to recruit the sons who were accepted to Harvard as fencing recruits in 2013 and 2016. They face potential sentences of up to five years in prison. Harvard Dismisses Fencing Coach Over Conflict of Interest Violation (The Harvard Crimson), He bought the fencing coach’s house. Former Harvard fencing coach Peter Brand and Harvard College parent Jie âJackâ Zhao have been indicted on bribery charges ⦠Federal prosecutors in Boston said Jie "Jack" Zhao paid more than $1.5 million in bribes so that Peter Brand, the former coach⦠Jie Zhao, a Maryland businessman, paid off the mortgage on Mr. Brand’s house in Needham, Mass., and later purchased it, prosecutors said. Former Harvard University fencing coach Peter Brand is pictured as he departed the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston on Monday. He made college tuition payments for the coach’s son. “The students were academic and fencing stars,” Douglas S. Brooks, Mr. Brand’s lawyer, said in a statement. Harvard University fired its fencing coach of 20 years after investigating the unusually high payment he received in the sale of his home to a businessman whose ⦠Lawyers for Mr. A federal grand jury is investigating Harvard University's fencing coach after he sold his Massachusetts home in 2016 to a wealthy businessman whose son was actively looking to ⦠Schneider, one of six new board members, will serve as an Athletesâ Advisory Council representative. Former Harvard University fencing coach Peter Brand leaves a Boston courthouse on Monday after being arraigned and freed on bail. Ex-Harvard Fencing Coach, Parent Charged In $1.5 Million Admissions Bribery Scheme. Peter Brand has been the head coach of the Harvard's fencing team for the past 20 years. Harvard was not implicated in the case, known as Operation Varsity Blues, but it began investigating Mr. Zhao told The Boston Globe he bought the house as an investment property and favor, but said he didn’t do it to secure his son’s admission to Harvard. The United States attorney’s office in Boston charged more than 50 people in the case, among them the Hollywood celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and prominent business people. Peter Brand, Harvard’s longtime fencing coach, was fired last year after a university investigation. Brand was initially “noncommittal” about recruiting him. The Boston Globe reports that entrepreneur Jie 'Jack' Zhao purchased the Massachusetts home of Harvard's fencing coach Peter Brand in 2016 ⦠The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Peter Brand and the father, Jie “Jack” Zhao, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, which is punishable for up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Brand last year as universities across the country scrambled to respond to a sweeping federal investigation of college admissions fraud, which raised questions about athletic recruitment and whether coaches have enriched themselves by essentially selling recruiting slots. Then his son got into Harvard. The scrutiny of Brand and Zhao’s relationship started in April 2019 when The Boston Globe reported Zhao bought Brand’s home in 2016 and his son subsequently got accepted to Harvard, noting it sold for nearly double the tax assessment and that Zhao never lived there. Brand’s attorney, David Brooks, declined to comment. Brand was appointed as Harvard's head fencing coach in 1999, moving from a role at Brown University. Former Harvard Fencing Coach Accused of Taking $1.5 Million in Bribes. I'm a reporter at Forbes and the author of What Next? After Mr. Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud. Harvard menâs and womenâs fencing head coach Daria Schneider has recently been appointed to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Board of Directors. Boston Globe via Getty Images. In April, Harvard was made aware of allegations involving Peter Brand, head coach of fencing. The brothers came to Harvard as lower-ranked recruits than the typical fencer at the school, whose men’s team has perennially been one of the best in the country, recruiting U.S. National team athletes or Olympians like Eli Dershwitz. So instead, prosectors said, Mr. Zhao and the co-conspirator hatched a plan in which the businessman would donate $1 million to a fencing foundation, which would then be passed to a charity run by Mr. Harvard’s Athletics Director Robert L. Scalise reportedly said that the investigation found Brand violated the university’s conflict of interest policy, according to an email to staff obtained by The Harvard Crimson. Peter Brand coaches at the Division I Women's Fencing Championship at Cleveland State University on ... [+] March 24, 2019. In the criminal complaint, prosecutors said that Mr. Zhao wanted his oldest son, an accomplished high school fencer, to go to Harvard, but that in 2012, Mr. He bought the fencing coach’s house. A former Harvard University fencing coach took more than $1.5 million in bribes from a telecommunications CEO to get his two sons into the Ivy League school, ⦠November 26, 2020 Education 0. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. Brand and Mr. Zhao said the businessman’s sons earned their spots. Harvard has dismissed fencing coach Peter Brand, whose conduct has been found to violate conflict-of-interest policies; the news was originally reported by The Boston Globe. Harvard fired Mr. Asked if there would be consequences for either, a spokeswoman for Harvard, Rachael Dane, said that both “were admitted under Harvard’s whole-person admissions process,” referring to their vetting by the admissions committee and the fact that they were interviewed by either admissions officers or alumni interviewers. In return, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint, Mr. “Coach Brand did nothing wrong in connection with their admission to Harvard. Over a five-year period, according to prosecutors, Mr. Zhao paid for Mr. Brand’s car. Jason Miller/NCAA Photos, via Getty Images. Many Harvard fencers are ranked in the top 10 in the junior U.S. rankings, but the Zhaos do not appear to have cracked the top 50, and in some years were not ranked at all. The Four Percent. Some months after the sale, Mr. Zhao’s younger son, Edward, was admitted to Harvard as a fencing recruit, as his brother, Eric, had been three years before. Former Harvard Fencing Coach Accused of Taking $1.5 Million in Bribes Prosecutors said a wealthy Maryland businessman, who was also charged, bribed the coach to help get his sons admitted to Harvard. Former Harvard fencing coach, Peter Brand, and Maryland businessman, Jie Zhao, were arrested and charged with conspiracy in a college admissions scandal separate from "Varsity Blues." A former Harvard fencing coach was arrested and charged with bribery on Monday for allegedly accepting $1.5 million from a businessman in exchange for recruiting his two sons to the fencing team, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, which is known for handling the 2019 college admissions scandal known as “Operation Varsity Blues.”. Zhao adamantly denies these charges.”. The coach told the co-conspirator, the founder of a fencing academy who coached Mr. Zhao’s sons in high school, that he needed a “good incentive.”. I have a master’s degree in journalism. A former Harvard University fencing coach and a Maryland businessman have been arrested and charged with conspiring to circumvent the schoolâs admissions process, according to ⦠Peter Brand, the former fencing coach at Harvard, and Jie Zhao, a Maryland businessman, were arrested Monday morning and charged with conspiracy. 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