RED FLAG

Report: Harvard Parent Bought Fencing Coach’s House for Almost Double the Value Before Son Was Admitted

Shortly after the house was purchased at a price the town’s assessor said “makes no sense,” his son was admitted to Harvard.

A Harvard fencing coach sold his Massachusetts home for hundreds of thousands of dollars above its valuation, and just a short time later, the purchaser’s son got admitted to the prestigious school and wound up on the fencing team, The Boston Globe reports. The coach, Peter Brand, reportedly sold his home to Jie Zhao in 2016—shortly before his younger son was admitted to Harvard. That son is now a member of the fencing team. Zhao’s older son, who graduated from Harvard in 2018, was also a member of the fencing team at the school. Brand’s home was valued at $549,300, but sold for close to a million dollars—a price that even the local assessor reportedly said “makes no sense.” Zhao reportedly sold the house just 17 months after buying it. Harvard was notified of the allegations against Brand on Monday and has since opened an “independent review.” The allegations against Brand and Zhao follow a nationwide admissions cheating scandal in which 50 wealthy parents, coaches, and facilitators have been charged as part of an elaborate scheme that allegedly involved bribing university officials and falsifying test scores to gain students’ admissions to top universities.

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