A former Harvard fencing coach and a Maryland businessman were found not guilty of conspiracy and bribery in a scheme the government claimed involved $1.5 million in payments to the coach in order to get the businessman’s two sons into the prestigious college.
(Bloomberg) — A former Harvard fencing coach and a Maryland businessman were found not guilty of conspiracy and bribery in a scheme the government claimed involved $1.5 million in payments to the coach in order to get the businessman’s two sons into the prestigious college.
Peter Brand, 69, and iTalk Global Communications Inc. founder Jie “Jack” Zhao, 63, were acquitted by a jury in Boston in a case that started with a 2019 Boston Globe expose of Zhao’s purchase of Brand’s rundown home for $1 million and a resale at a loss of $325,000.
Federal investigators uncovered a series of payments Zhao made in his own name to help Brand. Zhao bought the coach a car, paid for the downpayment and high-end renovations on his new Cambridge condo, and paid the coach’s son’s college tuition, according to the government.
The jury found the coach didn’t put his sons on the team in exchange for money, and there was no quid pro quo.
Brand hugged his crying wife after the verdict was delivered, while defense lawyers shook each others’ hands. He said he was grateful to the jury for believing the truth.
“This is probably the greatest win in my lifetime,” Brand said outside the courtroom.
Massachusetts US Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said her office respects the verdict but “fundamentally disagrees.”
“This case was prosecuted for the millions of high school seniors and their families who engage in the stressful and humbling exercise of applying to college every year. That process is supposed to be a meritocracy,” Rollins said in a statement.
The case against Zhao and Brand had echoes of the 2019 “Varsity Blues’” college admissions scandal in which more than 50 wealthy parents and coaches from elite colleges, including Yale and Georgetown, were ultimately convicted in a sprawling nationwide bribery and test cheating conspiracy orchestrated by a corrupt college admissions consultant. Those cases, however, involved sham athletic recruits.
Rollins said prosecuting Brand, Zhao and the “Varsity Blues” cases “have led to significant reforms at colleges and universities across the country aimed at curtailing the ability of those with means and access to flagrantly ignore the rules that apply to everyone else.”
Brand’s attorney Douglas Brooks said the jury realized how impressive Zhao’s sons Eric and Edward were. Both sons testified during the trial. The sons fenced at Harvard for all four years of their college careers and were on teams that won Ivy League Championships. They also both graduated with high GPA’s.
Prosecutors didn’t dispute Zhao’s sons Eric and Edward were nationally-ranked “Harvard-caliber” fencers with high grades when they were recruited. But in the ultra competitive world of Harvard admissions, the coach’s recommendations to the Harvard’s admissions committee gave them the extra edge for admission, they said.
The men’s lawyers claimed the payments were loans made under an agreement that Brand would repay them after receiving an inheritance when his mother died. She died in 2021, and the coach repaid Zhao. Both were indicted in 2020.
(Updates with comment from prosecutor)
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