A Harvard researcher from China pled guilty in federal court last week to lying to federal investigators over his role in an attempt to smuggle cancer research from Harvard University to the Chinese government. Over the past several years, dozens of researchers at institutions around the nation have failed to disclose their financial relationships with the Chinese government.
According to a report by the Crimson, former Harvard researcher Zaosong Zheng pled guilty on Thursday to lying to customs officials. Zheng was found by customs officials in December 2019 with 21 vials of biological materials from cancer research that was being conducted at the Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The researched had been flagged by customs as a high risk for smuggling research materials. When the biological materials were found in his luggage, he initially denied that they had come from Harvard, instead claiming a friend had given him the vials to carry back to China.
As part of his plea deal, charges of smuggling were dropped. Zheng will be required to leave the United States on January 6, 2021. However, a judge may impose five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines on Zheng for the false statements he made to customs officials.
In a statement, a Harvard University spokesperson said that they were grateful for the work done by law enforcement officials.
“We are grateful for the diligence and professionalism of federal law enforcement in this case,” she added.
Breitbart News reported in June that the former chair of Harvard’s chemistry department was indicted on two counts of making false statements to federal investigators. Dr. Charles Lieber allegedly maintained an undisclosed financial relationship with the Chinese government. Lieber took a position as a “strategic scientist” at the Wuhan University of Technology, which paid him $50,000 monthly. The university also offered him $1.5 million to establish a research lab in Wuhan. Lieber has pled not guilty to the charges and plans to continue to fight his charges in court.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
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