Harvard Professor Accused Of Lying To The Feds, Indicted Again

CAMBRIDGE, MA — The former chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department was indicted Tuesday related to failing to report income he received from Wuhan University of Technology in China.

Dr. Charles Lieber, 61, was previously indicted — and pleaded not guilty—on charges of making false statements to federal authorities regarding a Chinese-run recruitment, but this supersedes those charges, according to the U.S District Attorney's office.

Lieber was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return and two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service. Lieber was originally arrested on Jan. 28, and then indicted last month on two counts of making false statements to federal authorities.

Lieber was the main investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University when the research group received more than $15 million in federal research grants between 2008 and 2019, according to the 18 page complaint.

Unbeknownst to Harvard University, Lieber became a "strategic scientist" at Wuhan University of Technology and, later, took a position with China’s Thousand Talents Plan from 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.

Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year contract, Wuhan Tech paid Lieber a salary of up to $50,000 per month, living expenses of up to $150,000 and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab, according to court documents. The prosecutor said that in 2018 and 2019, Lieber lied to federal authorities about his involvement in the Chinese recruiting program and his affiliation with the school.

According to the superseding indictment, in 2013 and 2014 Lieber earned income from Wuhan Tech and his role as a strategic scientist and with the recruitment program that he did not disclose to the IRS on his federal income tax returns. The indictment also accuses Lieber, together with Wuhan University of Technology officials, opened a bank account at a Chinese bank during a trip to Wuhan in 2012.

Between 2013 and 2015, the school periodically deposited portions of Lieber’s salary into that account. U.S. taxpayers are required to report the existence of any foreign bank account that holds more than $10,000 at any time during a given year by the filing with the IRS. Lieber allegedly failed to file for the years 2014 and 2015.

If convicted, Lieber faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for the charge of making false statements, alone.

The earlier charges against Lieber were part of a wide-ranging effort to stop biomedical research from being stolen for China. Lieber's case is particularly noteworthy, as he is not of Chinese descent and is more widely renowned than others charged, The New York Times reported. The Times also reported Lieber helped found the WUT-Harvard Joint Nano Key Laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Technology in China.

Lieber moved to Harvard in 1991. The Philadelphia native is a leading mind in nanotechnology, according to his university bio. U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said Lieber wasn't a spy, but was "simply corrupted by money," according to WBZ.

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