Plaintiff in suit over sons' Harvard rejection is jewellery boss

A man suing an American admissions consultant for failing to get his sons into Harvard is the head of the Chow Sang Sang jewellery chain and a former adviser to the Hong Kong government.

Gerald Chow King-sing, executive director of Chow Sang Sang Holdings, a listed conglomerate in Hong Kong known for its jewellery stores, is seeking a refund of US$2.2 million that he paid in an education services agreement with consultant Mark Zimny to improve the propects of his two sons. Chow and his wife, Lily, accuse Zimny of fraud and breach of contract in lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts court.

Chow was an adviser to the government's Central Policy Unit between 2009 and last year, according to the 2011 Chow Sang Sang annual report.

A letter signed by a Harvard University official that had been filed with the court said Zimny was a visiting assistant professor in the university's graduate school of education until June 2005.

Lawyers for the Hong Kong couple said Zimny also described Chow as a "diamond king" in an e-mail.

A written educational plan stated that Gerald and Lily Chow wanted their sons to get into Harvard University, according to papers submitted to the District Court of Massachusetts. They had allegedly been told that some of the US$2.2 million would be donated to elite universities that would be seen as "greasing the admission wheels".