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Monday, November 16, 2020

LA Times: Maryland executive charged with bribing Harvard fencing coach to guarantee sons’ admission

A Maryland telecommunications executive ensured his two sons were admitted to Harvard University by plying the school’s fencing coach with inducements totaling $1.5 million, including buying the coach’s house at an inflated price, paying his car loan and utility bills, and funneling payoffs through charitable foundations, according to court papers charging the pair in a bribery conspiracy.

The executive, Jie “Jack” Zhao, and the coach, Peter Brand, were arrested Monday morning, federal authorities said. Harvard fired the coach, saying he had violated the school’s policies on managing conflicts of interest, after the Boston Globe detailed a series of transactions linking Zhao to Brand in 2019.

The case against Zhao, 61, and Brand, 67, was brought by the same federal prosecutor’s office that uncovered William “Rick” Singer’s cash-for-admissions scheme, and the Internal Revenue Service agent who signed the charging documents against Zhao and Brand, Elizabeth Keating, was among the case agents who oversaw Singer’s cooperation. Yet there is no indication that Singer or any of his conspirators were involved in the Harvard deal.

Full story at: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-16/maryland-executive-charged-bribing-harvard-fencing-coach-sons-admission

Also in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/11/16/harvards-former-fencing-coach-maryland-businessman-arrested-college-admissions-scandal/

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