‘A former Harvard admissions officer told a federal jury on Friday that the school’s ex-fencing coach, Peter Brand, “made the difference” in the admissions outcomes of a wealthy Maryland businessman’s two sons.
Brand, who was fired by Harvard in 2019, is facing trial alongside telecommunications executive Jie “Jack” Zhao for allegedly accepting more than $1.5 million in bribes to get Zhao’s sons into Harvard College as fencing recruits.
Prosecutors say Brand accepted an array of kickbacks from Zhao in exchange for getting his sons into Harvard. As part of the alleged scheme, Zhao purchased Brand’s home at a premium, made college tuition payments for Brand’s son, and covered the cost of Brand’s new sports car…
Jurors … heard on Friday from a Needham town employee who raised alarm when Zhao purchased Brand’s 1,364-square-foot home for almost twice its assessed value.
Chip Davis, the city’s former chief assessor, said the sale price was “very surprising.”
“Even if there’s a 5-10 percent change” between the assessed price and the sale price, “we go and inspect,” he said. “This was dramatically higher than that.”
After the sale, Davis said, he knocked on the door of Brand’s home for an in-person inspection. He found that the house’s condition suggested its value was “pretty close” to the 2015 assessed value of $549,300 — rather than the sale price of $989,500…
In his May 2016 notes, Davis was perplexed by the sale price, according to an exhibit shown to jurors Friday.
“Sold to buyer from Virginia for 990k??? Place is vintage 1960s in bad shape???” Davis wrote. “Makes no sense.”
In fall 2017, Zhao sold the home for $665,000, taking a 32 percent loss on the transaction. Davis returned for another visit triggered by the sale price. “Makes no sense,” he wrote again in his notes…
Zhao’s attorney suggested Zhao may not have known how to assess the house’s worth and noted property values in Needham change year to year.’
December 13th, 2022 at 10:44PM
Sad to be a Harvard man living in such a tiny, old hut. I can understand why he’d go for this deal just so he could show his face among the 2000 sq ft 1970s bungalow crowd.
December 13th, 2022 at 11:33PM
LOL.
I read the article to Karol as we ate dinner, and he laughed out loud at “Zhao’s attorney suggested Zhao may not have known how to assess the house’s worth and noted property values in Needham change year to year.”