Authorities are accusing Charles Lieber, a 61-year-old Harvard professor, to be untruthful to his connections with the Chinese-led recruitment program. After officials announced his indictment on the charges, Lieber's lawyer said on Tuesday that his client is the victim and not the criminal.
China's accomplice
According to CBC, Lieber was the former chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and officers arrested him in January. Authorities charged Lieber for his alleged involvement with China's "Thousand Talents Plan," a program that seeks to put together people that know foreign technology and intellectual property.
A federal grand jury indicted the suspect on two counts of making false statements to authorities. If Lieber is found guilty, he will be imprisoned for up to five years, released with supervision for three years, and be required to pay a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors noted that Lieber will step foot in court at a later date that they have not yet announced.
Marc Mukasey, Lieber's lawyer, wrote in an email that the government had made a mistake and noted that his client had dedicated his life to science and helping his students.
Mukasey said that Lieber was not the perpetrator but rather another victim in the case. He also said that the professor has always been a fighter and will not allow the mistake to hold them back.
They expressed their intention of proving his innocence and restore Lieber's good name and allow him to contribute once again to the science community with his intellect and passion for teaching.
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Aiding a foreign entity
The Justice Department stated on Tuesday that since the beginning of 2011, Lieber acted as a "Strategic Scientist" at China's Wuhan University of Technology without the knowledge of Harvard University, as reported by CNBC.
The statement also claimed that Lieber, between 2012 and 2015, was a contractual participant in the Chinese recruitment program. It also said that the Asian country compensated individuals for acquiring intellectual property from foreign parties or entities.
The Wuhan University of Technology allegedly paid Lieber a salary of $50,000 every month for his services throughout the exchange. Authorities also claimed that they paid for his living expenses that totaled to $158,000.
The Chinese university gave the professor more than $1.5 million in funds for the construction of a research lab inside the school. The university required Lieber to work for them for at least nine months out of the year for the compensations.
At the time of his alleged involvement with the Chinese university, the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense granted Lieber's research firm with more than $15 million worth of funds.
The grants required the professor to disclose all of his sources of support, the potential financial conflicts of interest, and foreign collaborations that he has had to be eligible for the support.
Authorities claim that Lieber made false statements of his involvement with the university, where he denied being part of the Thousand Talents Plan.
When the National Institutes of Health talked with Harvard about the professor, Lieber allegedly got the school to lie about his non-involvement with the Chinese recruitment program. In January, Harvard said they had placed Lieber on administrative leave.
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