(Bloomberg) — The wife of the former Harvard University fencing coach accused of taking payments a Maryland businessman to recruit his sons testified the alleged bribes were actually loans that were recently repaid.
(Bloomberg) — The wife of the former Harvard University fencing coach accused of taking payments a Maryland businessman to recruit his sons testified the alleged bribes were actually loans that were recently repaid.
Jacqueline Phillips told jurors Thursday that telecommunications tycoon Jie “Jack” Zhao loaned her and her husband Peter Brand more than $500,000 with no repayment plan and sought no interest because he was a “kind,” close friend of her husband, who was Harvard’s head fencing coach for 20 years.
Pressed by a federal prosecutor why the money wasn’t repaid until after the men were indicted in 2020, she said they had an understanding Zhao would get his money when Brand, 69, received an inheritance. “We had to wait for my mother-in-law to pass away,” she said.
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During hours of cross examination, Philips, 70, admitted the couple did not declare the loans as liabilities on a 2016 mortgage application. “In retrospect, that should have been listed,” she said.
The trial in Boston has echoes of the Justice Department’s “Varsity Blues” college admissions bribery scandal but with a major difference. At Harvard, a coach can’t guarantee admission as a recruit. Zhao’s sons, who both fenced and graduated, had to win acceptance from Harvard’s admissions committee of more than 40 people.
Brand’s wife, who is retired after working for the city of Cambridge, testified extensively about the sale of their suburban Boston home to Zhao for almost $1 million, well over its assessed value. Zhao soon resold the home at a loss of $290,000.
She said she felt badly when she learned Zhao lost money and apologized to him. “I was very sorry he lost money on that house,” she said.
The government claims Brand received $1.5 million from Zhao through a series of benefits. Zhao covered Brand’s mortgage, bought him a new car, paid for the coach’s son’s tuition and loans at Penn State, and bought the couple’s house for hundreds of thousands of dollars over its assessed value.
Brand, 69, and Zhao, 63, have both claimed they’ve done nothing wrong and insist Zhao’s sons earned admission to Harvard on their own academic and athletic merits. Zhao’s lawyers also contend he has a history of being generous lending money to friends and say he didn’t befriend the coach until after his eldest son was already admitted.
The men each face up to 15 years in prison if convicted in the alleged bribery scheme.
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