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Charles Lieber, age 62, was found guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 21, of:
- Two counts of making false statements to federal authorities,
- Two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return,
- Two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service.
Lieber is the former chair of Harvard's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department.
During the time he worked for the university, he was the principal investor for the Lieber Research Group, which received more than $15 million in federal research grants between 2008 and 2015, the Department of Justice reported.
Without informing his employer, Lieber also worked as a "strategic scientist" for Wuhan University of Technology in Wuhan, China, and from at least 2012 through 2015 he worked as a contractual participant in China's Thousand Talents Plan, the DOJ said.
"China’s Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent 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," the DOJ said in the announcement.
The Wuhan University of Technology reportedly paid Lieber up to $50,000 per month, his living expenses of up to $150,000 and the university also awarded him more than $1.5 million to create a research lab there.
Lieber lied to federal authorities in 2018 and 2019 about his affiliation with the Wuhan University of Technology and the Thousand Talents Plan, the DOJ said.
He also didn't disclose to the IRS on his federal income returns the income he made from the Wuhan University of Technology in the 2013 and 2014 tax years, the DOJ said.
The DOJ said he also failed report foreign bank accounts by filing an FBAR with the IRS in 2014 and 2015.
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