Source|Science Network Author/Tang Yichen
On January 14, local time, the official website of the US Department of Justice disclosed that Professor Chen Gang, an academician of the American Academy of Engineering and an academician of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was prosecuted and arrested for not disclosing his work in China. and his awards for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Chen Gang, 56, was accused of fraud, failing to report a foreign bank account and making false statements on tax returns. On the same day, he made his first appearance in court, and Judge Donald M. L. Cabell was also present.
Gang Chen, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT (Source: MIT website)
In the United States, wire fraud charges can be punishable by up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, according to information posted on the U.S. Department of Justice's website.
False statements are punishable by up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Failure to report a foreign bank account carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of custodial release, and a $250,000 fine. The judge will make the sentence in federal district court based on U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to the accounting documents, Chen Gang is a Chinese-American (Huazhong University of Science and Technology graduate) who served as director of MIT's Paparado Micronano Engineering Laboratory and the Center for Solid-State Solar Thermal Conversion. Since about 2013, his research at MIT has received more than $19 million in grants from U.S. federal agencies.
Since 2012, Chen Gang has held various positions in China, promoting the development of science and technology in China by providing advice and expertise and receiving financial remuneration, according to U.S. Department of Justice documents. He has reportedly received about $29 million from abroad since 2013, including $19 million from China's Southern University of Science and Technology.
The United States even checked Chen's emails. The DOJ document highlights its efforts to promote China's scientific and economic development and reveals many details:
1. Support cooperation with China;
2. Suggest that China take innovation (science) as the key and core;
3. China's economy ranks second, but technology and human resources lag far behind this position;
4. We pay huge environmental costs, unsustainable costs and labor costs;
5. Environmental protection and economic development must rely on technology, and cannot develop as in the past;
Sixth, scientific and technological innovation has become the core, and we realize that we must not only innovate independently, but also need international planning and support. Innovation behind closed doors is not enough, innovation is also motivation. Justice Department filings also show that Chen, who held various consulting positions in China from at least 2017 to 2019, applied for and received grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund some of his research at MIT. In the process, he failed to disclose ties to China, as required by the Department of Energy.
In addition, Chen Gang did not report to the IRS on his 2018 tax return that his bank account in China exceeded $10,000 in 2018.
MIT President L. Rafael Reif sent an email to the entire university expressing his shock, saying that Chen Gang was a widely respected scholar and teacher whose arrest was surprising, deeply distressing and incomprehensible.