An ex-professor at Harvard University was given a six-month house detention term for lying to authorities about his involvement in a recruiting scheme operated by China, according to the prosecution. After being found guilty in December 2021, Charles Lieber, a prominent nanoscientist and the former head of Harvard’s chemistry department, received the sentence issued by U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel in Boston. He received a two-day prison term, six months of house arrest, and a $50,000 fine. He was also ordered to pay $33,600 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and serve two years of probation.
In a case stemming from the “China Initiative” of the U.S. Department of Justice, Lieber, who has been battling cancer, was found guilty of lying to authorities, submitting fraudulent tax forms, and failing to disclose a Chinese bank account. Lieber denies wrongdoing. In order to win a Nobel Prize, prosecutors said Lieber consented to enroll at Wuhan University of Technology as a “strategic scientist” and, via this, took part in a Chinese recruiting program. In response to questions from the American National Institutes of Health and the American Defense Department, the prosecution claimed that Lieber had lied about his participation in the operation. He received cash payments in the amount of up to $50,000 per month and transfers into a Chinese bank account to cover his living costs of $158,000.
