Harvard professor convicted of making false statements about China ties
Charles Lieber, the former chair of Harvard University's chemistry and chemical biology department. Photo: Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Harvard University professor Charles Lieber was convicted Tuesday in connection with lying to U.S. federal authorities about his ties to China.
Driving the news: A federal jury in Boston found the 62-year-old former chair of Harvard University's chemistry and chemical biology department guilty of two counts of making false statements to federal authorities about a Chinese government recruitment program, per a Department of Justice statement.
- He was also found guilty of two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return and two charges of failing to file reports of a foreign bank in China and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service.
Our thought bubble, via Axios China reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian: The Lieber verdict comes as the DOJ's China Initiative faces intense scrutiny after a series of charges against ethnic Chinese scientists were dropped.
The big picture: Lieber had pleaded not guilty of all charges related to his affiliation with the Beijing-run Thousand Talents Program and China's Wuhan University of Technology (WUT).
- "Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT 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 at WUT," per the DOJ.
- "In 2018 and 2019, Lieber lied to federal authorities about his involvement in the Thousand Talents Plan and his affiliation with WUT."
What's next: The court has yet to schedule a sentencing date, but Lieber faces up to five years in prison for the making false statements charge, according to the DOJ.