Grand jury indicts former Harvard chemistry chairman accused of lying about work with Chinese government

A grand jury has indicted a Harvard professor for lying to government officials about his work with the Chinese government. Former Harvard chemistry and chemical biology department chairman Charles Lieber was indicted Tuesday on two counts of making false statements to federal investigators who were looking into money he received from China. The Department of Justice alleged that Lieber intentionally told officials in 2018 that he was never asked to participate in China’s Thousand Talents Program, which is used to recruit scientists from the United States with funding to contribute to scientific development in the country. However, charging documents show Lieber signed a contract as a One Thousand Talents “high level foreign expert” in 2012 after representatives of the Wuhan University of Technology asked him to join. Lieber has also been accused of lying about his relationship with the Chinese recruitment program, causing Harvard to tell the National Institutes of Health that he was not associated with the program in ''2019. “It is alleged that, unbeknownst to Harvard University, beginning in 2011, Lieber became a ‘Strategic Scientist’ at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China," the DOJ said in a press release. '''"He later became contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan from at least 2012 through 2015. China’s Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese talent recruitment plans designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of China’s scientific development, economic prosperity and national security."'

Lieber’s trial counsel Marc Mukasey said the government was wrong about the charges. “Professor Lieber has dedicated his life to science and to his students,” Mukasey said. “Not money, not fame, just his science and his students. He is the victim in this case, not the perpetrator. But he’s also a fighter — he always has been — so we’re not taking this lying down. We’re fighting back. And when justice is done, Charlie’s good name will be restored, and the scientific community again will be able to benefit from his intellect and passion.”

Lieber was originally charged in January for making false statements, but the grand jury indictment was stalled amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT allegedly paid Lieber a salary of up to $50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1 million Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT. In return, Lieber was obligated to work for WUT “not less than nine months a year” by “declaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conference[s], applying for patents and publishing articles in the name of [WUT],” the DOJ said. Lieber faces “a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000” if convicted of lying to federal authorities. He will be arraigned in Boston at a later date.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/grand-jury-indicts-former-harvard-chemistry-chairman-accused-of-lying-about-work-with-chinese-government