Federal prosecutors have secured dozens of passport and fraud fraud charges against a University of Arkansas professor who allegedly hid ties to China to obtain NASA funding.
Investigators arrested Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 63, in May on a single count of wire fraud for allegedly concealing his ties to the Chinese government and Chinese companies while receiving money from a federal grant. Now, the Fayetteville, Arkansas resident faces 42 counts of wire fraud and two counts of passport fraud after a grand jury indictment, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
“This is a hallmark of China’s focus on research and academic collaborations within the United States to obtain US technology illegally,” said Assistant Attorney General for Homeland Security John C. Demers.
Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 63, is accused of obtaining federal grants without revealing his ties to China and the companies there.
(University of Arkansas)
ARKANSAS PROFESSOR HIGHLY HIDDEN CHINA TO SECURE MONEY FROM NASA GRANT
Investigators said Ang was receiving payments and other benefits from China while working as director of the University of Arkansas at the Fayetteville Center for High-Density Electronics, a position that required him to disclose any conflict of interest or anything that might seem a conflict.
Ang allegedly received payments from the Chinese government, held senior positions in various Chinese companies, and was also a co-owner of at least one more, according to the federal indictment.
FBI agents alleged that he did not disclose the conflicts to both NASA and the University of Arkansas. Ang, who started his college job in 1988 and earned an annual salary of $ 168,192, was suspended without pay, a spokesman told Fox News after his arrest in May.
“This is a hallmark of China’s focus on research and academic collaborations within the United States in order to illegally obtain American technology.”
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And they allegedly had investigators under their supervision working on behalf of those Chinese companies, while the University of Arkansas and federal agencies paid them, according to the indictment.
“The electronic fraud in this case affected not only the University of Arkansas, but also several other important government agencies in the United States, such as [NASA] and the United States Air Force, “said David Clay Fowlkes, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.
According to the indictment, Ang also allegedly “committed materially fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions” for an Air Force grant proposal.
If convicted, Ang faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and up to 10 years in prison for each count of passport fraud.
Ang was recognized in China as a “National Distinguished Expert” for the Communist government’s “Thousand Talents Program” in 2016, a program designed to recruit top-level scientists to work for China.
HARVARD TEACHER ACCUSED OF COVERING TIES AT CHINESE SCHOOL NOW FACING TAX CHARGES
Harvard University professor Charles Lieber, 61, has also been accused of lying about his ties to the program, and the Justice Department announced new tax charges against him on Tuesday. He was also indicted in June on misleading federal authority charges and charged with failing to report the income of China’s Wuhan University of Technology.
He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer is contesting the allegations.
Louis Casiano of Fox News contributed to this report.
