Ex-Fencing Coach at Harvard Arrested for Bribery

A former fencing coach at Harvard University, Peter Brand, was charged under federal law with accepting bribes to get the two sons of Jie (Jack) Zhao admitted to the university. And Zhao was charged with making the bribes.

"In total, Zhao made $1.5 million in payments to Brand, or for Brand’s personal benefit, even as Brand recruited Zhao’s younger son to the Harvard fencing team," said a statement from the U.S. Justice Department. "Zhao allegedly paid for Brand’s car, made college tuition payments for Brand’s son, paid the mortgage on Brand’s Needham residence, and later purchased the residence for well above its market value, thus allowing Brand to purchase a more expensive residence in Cambridge that Zhao then paid to renovate. Zhao’s younger son matriculated to Harvard in 2017. The complaint alleges that Brand did not disclose the payments to Harvard when recruiting Zhao’s sons."

The Washington Post quoted Bill Weinreb, a lawyer for Zhao, as saying, “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.”

Harvard declined to comment, but an earlier statement from the university said, “Harvard was made aware of allegations involving Peter Brand, head coach of fencing. An independent investigation of the matter is now complete, and Mr. Brand was dismissed from his position for violating Harvard’s conflict of interest policy.”

Brand’s lawyer told CBS News he “looks forward to the truth coming out in court.” He added, "The students were academic and fencing stars. Coach Brand did nothing wrong in connection with their admission to Harvard."

The scandal broke when The Boston Globe reported on the home's purchase in 2019 -- a month after the Varsity Blues cases began gaining national attention.