In 2016, Peter Brand (67), a now ex-Harvard fencing coach, received almost $1 million for his spare 3-bedroom house, which was valued at only $549,300. The buyer was Jie “Jack” Zhao (61), a wealthy Maryland businessman and CEO of a telecommunications company. Suspicions arose quickly when Zhao bought the house for nearly double its assessed value, and sold it only months later albeit suffering extreme profit loss. Zhao’s older son attended Harvard University and participated as the captain of the fencing team from 2014-2018, while his younger son started in 2017 and is currently on the fencing team, according to prosecutors.
Both Brand and Zhao were arrested recently for alleged bribery. “Today’s arrests show how Peter Brand’s and Jie Zhao’s plan to circumvent the college admissions process ended up backfiring on both of them,” Joseph Bonavolonta, head of the FBI Boston Division, said. Brand is accused of taking at least $1.5 million in bribes in exchange for assisting Zhao into gaining illegal admission at Harvard for his two sons.
“The actions of both Brand and Zhao created an unfair playing field… I hope that the announcement of today’s charges against Brand and Zhao demonstrates to others that cheating to gain an unfair advantage will not be tolerated,” Joleen Simpson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service (Criminal Investigation Division), said.
Sources report that in addition to the overestimated estate purchase, Jack Zhao also allegedly paid for Brand’s car, made the college tuitions for Brand’s son, paid the mortgage on Brand’s residence and paid for Brand’s new house renovation― these exchanges totalled at least $1.5 million as confirmed in the affidavit. Zhao repeatedly denied the accusations. “Jack Zhao’s children were academic stars in high school and internationally competitive fencers who obtained admission to Harvard on their own merit. Both of them fenced for Harvard at the Division One level throughout their college careers. Mr. Zhao adamantly denies these charges and will vigorously contest them in court,” William Weinreb, Zhao’s lawyer, said.
The FBI stated that Zhao and Brand had exchanges dealing back to 2012, at the start of Brand’s financial troubles. Zhao even donated $1 million to the CC-1’s Fencing Charity in 2013. After Zhao’s older son was admitted in 2014, Zhao emailed Brand, “Hi Boss…It is official now. I just want to thank you for what you did, really appreciate,” according to the affidavit. The charge alleges that Brand did not disclose any of the previous payments made by Zhao to the university before accepting Zhao’s sons.
The charge of conspiracy to commit bribery of federal programs includes a prison sentence of up to five years, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
Article by Hrishita Mareddy of Richard Montgomery High School
Graphic by Charles Wang of Walter Johnson High School