Former professor sued by Hong Kong couple after he failed to get their sons into Harvard despite being paid $2.2MILLION

A Chinese couple who paid a Massachusetts former professor $2.2million to get their two teenage sons into Ivy League universities are suing him for fraud after he failed to make good on his promise.



Gerald and Lily Chow from Hong Kong, agreed to provide Mark Zimny and his company, IvyAdmit, with the hefty retainer believing that he would use the money to make generous donations to schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton on their behalf and secure their sons' places at top schools.



But after two years of continually transmitting funds to Mr Zimny for donations and intense tutoring, the Chows became suspicious of how the 'consultant' was spending the money and a superficial investigation soon revealed that no donations had been made.

Elite: A Chinese couple are suing the man they paid over $2million to get their sons into Ivy League schools on counts of fraud and unjust enrichment

Mr and Mrs Chow met Mr Zimny in 2007 at an event at the Massachusetts prep school that their oldest son attended.



He presented himself as a Harvard professor and elite admissions consultant with several professorial partners who had strong connections with top U.S. universities, in particular with Harvard.

Though in part this was true, Mr Zimny had not, however, taught at Harvard since 2005.



And while many of the people whose names he listed as members of his consulting staff admitted to knowing him, a few told the Boston Globe that they had never worked for his company, IvyAdmit.



According to plaintiff's case, Mr Zimny courted the Chows with stories of how foreign students were rejected and how Asian donors to Ivy League schools were regarded with scepticism by the universities.

He advised them that making donations through an intermediary would be a more advisable route for guaranteeing their sons' success.

Liar? Mr and Mrs Chow hired Mark Zimny and his company IvyAdmit to tutor their sons and make hefty donations on their behalf in the hope of buying their way into the top schools through an intermediary

In a plan laid out for the Chows, Mr Zimny talked about 'embedded racism' and played to the fears of which the concerned parents had heard rumours, convincing them that he could act as the middle man for these charitable gifts.



Elizabeth Stone, a consultant who has been approached by many Chinese families hoping to give their children opportunity in America, told the Boston Globe: 'A lot of them don’t understand how the American college system works. I think the mentality is, "you can buy your way in."'



First, Mr Zimny said, he would take care of their prep school needs in America, tutoring them, supporting and encouraging extra-curricular activities and providing supervision and guidance while one was at boarding school and one lived at home.



For this he charged the Chows $4000 a month per son and documents imply that in this he upheld his end of the deal.



According to invoices his employees gave the boys intense tutoring, going so far as to sometimes even write entire papers for them. He also checked in on the boys and made sure they were adapting and assimilating into American life.



But in late 2008, early 2009, Mr Zimny emailed Lily Chow asking for a lump sum of $2million so he could be free to submit large donations on their behalf.



Though they complied with Mr Zimny's request and wired him the money, the couple soon grew uncomfortable with the arrangement when it became clear that donations still had not been made and invoices for tasks like 'activities' continued to skyrocket.



The icing on the cake, according to legal documents, came when the Chows expressed a wish to donate $1million to Stamford University in Mr Chow's mother's name and Mr Zimny told them it would be much better if they sent him the money to donate on their behalf.



Since the they filed suit Mr Zimny has yet to explain where the funds from the Chows have gone, but many red flags have been waving in hindsight that the couple did not see, either due to ignorance or blind ambition.



Mark Sklarow, executive director of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) - the industry's principle trade group - told the Boston Globe that Mr Zimny's fees were extortionate.



That IvyAdmit had no affiliation with the IECA, which bars consultants from acting as middlemen for donations, should have been a red flag alone.

But Mr Sklarow also described charges of five figures for a year's worth of consulting as 'outrageous'.



Referring to the invoices Mr Zimny sent for papers written by his staff, Michael Goran, an admissions consultant and member of IECA added: 'We sign in blood that we won't write essays for people.'



While many questions remain and the suit heads towards a November status conference, Mr Zimny has admitted to some allegations and questioned or denied others.



A failed motion by his lawyers claiming that legal blame should lie with the Chows because 'common law counts do not serve as an insurance policy for poor judgment, avarice, or any other of many human failings' was deemed 'nebulous' at US District Court in Boston.



And while the Chows face a stormy Fall ahead in the courts, they can rest at ease knowing at the very least that their two sons did eventually end up at Ivy League schools.

