A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor was arrested Thursday in connection with a wide-reaching scheme in which he is accused of abusing federal grant money and receiving millions from the Chinese government to advance the nation’s scientific and technological goals, authorities said.
Gang Chen, a 56-year-old professor and researcher at MIT, is accused of failing to disclose millions of dollars worth of contracts, appointments and awards from various entities in the People’s Republic of China to the United States Department of Energy, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.
Born in China, Chen is a naturalized United States citizen and serves as the director of both the MIT Pappalardo Micro and Nano Engineering Laboratories and the Solid-State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion Center, Lelling’s office said.
Authorities claimed the Cambridge professor hid from U.S. grant-making authorities and MIT numerous affiliations with and funding from the Chinese government. He has been charged with wire fraud, failing to file a foreign bank account report and making a false statement in a tax return, according to prosecutors.
“No, it is not illegal to collaborate with foreign researchers. It’s illegal to lie about it,” Lelling said during a press conference Thursday.
“The allegations in the complaint imply that this was not just about greed, but about loyalty to China,” the U.S. attorney added.
Since as early as 2012, authorities alleged, Chen held various appointments with the PRC designed to promote the government’s interests by providing advice and expertise – sometimes directly to Chinese authorities – and often in exchange for financial compensation.
He is accused of acting as an “overseas expert” for the PRC at the request of the government’s consulate office in New York and serving as a member of at least two talent programs for China, according to Lelling’s office.
Prosecutors said Chen received roughly $29 million of foreign funding, including $19 million from the PRC’s Southern University of Science and Technology, since around 2013.
In that time, much of the professor’s research at MIT was funded by more than $19 million in grants awarded by various federal agencies in the United States. Authorities claimed Chen used the U.S. government’s money to benefit the Chinese government.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office…