loading…
Harvard University professor Charles Lieber has been accused of hiding his ties to China. PHOTO/Reuters
A Federal jury in Boston found Lieber, a renowned scientist and former chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, guilty of making false statements to authorities, filing false tax returns, and failing to report Chinese bank accounts.
Read: About the Corona Virus, Harvard Professor Does Not Mean to Insult Indonesia
Prosecutors said Lieber, in his bid for the Nobel Prize, agreed in 2011 to become a “strategic scientist” at the Wuhan University of Technology in China. The position saw him participate in China’s recruitment effort called the Thousand Talents Program.
Prosecutors said China used the program to recruit foreign researchers to share their knowledge with the country. Participation is not a crime, but prosecutors argue Lieber illegally lied to authorities about his involvement.
Lieber’s lawyer Marc Mukasey has denied that prosecutors “destroyed” evidence to prove Lieber’s guilt. The lawyer also accused prosecutors of not having key documents to back up their claims and relying too much on “confused” FBI interviews with scientists following his arrest.
Read: Harvard Professor Believes Covid-19 Vaccine Will Be Available Next Year
Lieber, who is battling cancer, sat emotionless as the verdict was announced after nearly three hours of jury deliberations and a six-day trial. “We respect that decision and will continue to fight,” Mukasey said.
Lieber was indicted in January 2020 as part of the “China Initiative” by the US Department of Justice, which carried out investigations during former President Donald Trump’s administration against allegations of economic espionage and theft of Chinese research. President Joe Biden’s administration is continuing the initiative, although the Justice Department said it was reviewing its approach.
– .
